


Painted

by PrincessLaLa



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Also Akira uses like 3-4 different aliases for plot-specific reasons, M/M, Tangled AU, kind of follows the plot of Tangled with some elements changed, minor spoilers for some character motivations in later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2018-09-02 03:05:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8649220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessLaLa/pseuds/PrincessLaLa
Summary: "All Yusuke's life, he's lived within the confines of his tower with his Mentor, watching and painting the world outside from his window and wondering when he'll ever be able to explore it for himself.But everything changes one day when a handsome stranger shows up inside the tower and Yusuke gets taken on the adventure of his life."(Tldr: "The Tangled AU nobody asked for but every fandom's gotta have")





	1. Prologue

For as long as he could remember, Ichiryusai Madarame suffered from illnesses and joint pain, initially caused by a lifetime of hard labor and made worse by old age. He had lost his home years ago due to his growing inability to work and as a result, he had ended up spending most of his days wandering aimlessly, hoping one day for a miracle cure for his troubles.

He had heard songs and legends through the villagers in the market about a silver flower born from a drop of moonlight that could cure any ailment and heal any wound. When he was younger, he had thought it was nothing but an old wives tale, a folktale, a fairy tale that parents told their children for entertainment but in his old age and desperation, Madarame began searching for the flower in earnest.

One day, after years of searching, he finally found it on a cliff one night. When he first laid eyes on it, Madarame couldn’t believe it himself, it seemed too good to be true. But there it was, a small, white star-shaped flower rimmed with what looked like a round blue ruffle with its petals curling around itself in a wheel-like formation, with blue stems and blue veins that glowed with a faint silver hue with a star-shaped center.

Awestruck, Madarame reached out to the flower, letting the soft glow illuminate upon the pale and sallow skin of his hand. He could feel an ancient, strong sort of power emanate from the flower’s petals.

If the old legends were true and this was the real flower in question, there was only one way to find out.

With a voice hoarse from age and lack of use, Madarame began to sing the song he heard from all the bards.

“ _Flower, gleam and glow…”_ Madarame began, the flower blooming in response to his words.

 _“Let your power shine,_  
_Make the clock reverse,_  
_Bring back what once was mine_.” He continued as the flower’s glow intensified, bathing him in a soft silvery light.  
  
“ _Heal what has been hurt,_  
_Change the fates' design,_  
_Save what has been lost,_  
_Bring back what once was mine_.” Madarame felt a powerful but gentle energy surround him, filling his entire being with a feeling of invigoration and strength.  
  
_“What once was mine…_ ”

As Madarame finished the song, the flower’s glow started to dim as it started to curl in on itself once more, but in the light of the moon and starts shining above him, he saw that the skin on the back of his hand that had once been wrinkled was smoothed out and his joint pain had seemingly disappeared. He turned to look into a puddle nearby and saw in his reflection, not a sickly elderly man with white hair, but a strong, healthy man in his late 30’s, the hair in his topknot a strong shade of black save for a few white strands peppered in. Overcome with joy, Madarame kissed the flower as he quickly grabbed a couple branches off of a nearby tree and arranged them around the flower to hide it so as to protect it.

~~~~~

A week later, Madarame returned to sing the song when his skin started to wrinkle and his joint pain returning, this time bringing a basket he wove to camouflage the flower as a bush.

Madarame visited again the following week, and the week after, and the one after that, feeling his habits and dependence set in as his weekly visits started becoming more regular and like clockwork.

  
It continued on like this for centuries. The flower peacefully and unassumingly grew in its spot on the cliff while the world around it changed rapidly, entire villages sprang up over time and were deserted and built up again while a kingdom built and developed on the land just across the water and Madarame continued visiting it, faking his death and changing his identity many times to avoid suspicion from the villagers as eventually, the ownership of the land he lived in passed over into that of the shining kingdom just across the water. It was a lot of effort to keep his secret, but at least he had found the key to youthful immortality.  
  
That all began to change when he heard news and rumors about the queen of the land being pregnant and dying from an illness.  
  
" _Queen Sayuri is in desperate need of a cure_." Madarame heard the villagers say one day in the market.  
" _It would take a miracle to heal her_."  
" _They say they're looking for that mythical silver flower with the power of the moon itself to heal her and her unborn child…_ ”

Madarame drew this hood of his cloak around himself tighter to conceal his face as he heard the news. He noticed the skin on his hand taking on a pale, sickly hue as the skin looked like it was starting to wrinkle and sag and his joints were starting to ache. He needed to go see his flower soon.

~~~~~

That night, Madarame visited his flower, the same way he had been for the last few centuries, the exact number, Madarame had lost track of a long time ago.

Removing the basket, Madarame placed his lantern on the ground as he crouched close.

After singing his usual song, Madarame breathed a sigh of relief as he was thankful he could make use of the flower’s power once more. That feeling of ease was quickly replaced by one of panic as he heard a twig snap behind him, followed by the distant but drawing ever-closer sound of human voices shouting and dogs barking.

Quickly drawing his hood, Madarame grabbed his lantern and placed the basket back over the flower as he quickly turned tail and ran to a safe hiding point. In his haste, he heard his lantern knock into the basket, but he didn’t have much time to turn around and put it back in place as he heard the voices getting nearer. He quickly ducked behind a large rock and watched as a team of men clad in armor and regal helmets, royal guards no doubt, appear around the bend and into his field of vision.

“WE FOUND IT!” He heard one of the men say.

Almost immediately, the small mob of men took out shovels and tools and started getting to work in removing the flower from its place.

Madarame felt powerless, unable to do anything but watch in horror as he saw his precious treasure get uprooted right in front of his eyes. He couldn’t just get up and tell them to stop, not without exposing himself.

As he saw the flower be placed into a basket and carried away, he almost collapsed out of pure shock, a feeling that was followed by anger, disappointment, and sadness as the realization of his treasure being taken away from him for good.

~~~~~

A couple days after the incident, Madarame saw the lights.

From his vantage point in his tower, he first saw one golden lantern, small from distance, but shining brightly, float up above the trees in the forest that guarded his abode, followed by five, ten, and finally hundreds more lanterns filled the night sky, shining brighter than all the stars.

The sight was undoubtedly beautiful, but to Madarame, still bitter from the loss of his flower, the happy image seemed like a slap to the face. He quickly closed the curtains on the window and promptly went to bed to try to forget the sight.

He couldn’t forget the sight though as the lights were all that the villagers in the market could seem to talk about the next day.

 “ _The kingdom is overjoyed at the recovery of the Queen and the birth of a healthy young prince!_ ”

“ _The lights were released in celebration of the birth of Prince Yusuke...”_ The merchants said as they passed the word along to their customers.

Madarame scoffed bitterly as he turned away, planning to head back to his tower when he heard the next bit of news.

“ _Those who saw the infant prince reported he had beautiful blue hair and some could even swear that it could glow_.”

Madarame perked up as that last phrase caught his attention. If it meant what he thought it might have meant, that meant that there was a chance his chance at everlasting youth and health was still out there.

Quickly making his way out from the crowds of the marketplace, Madarame quickly made his way back to his tower to prepare for a visit to the palace.

~~~~~

Scaling the tower in which the young prince rested was surprisingly easy for Madarame. If it weren’t for the palace gardener’s negligence or poor aesthetic design (Madarame couldn’t figure out which) in letting vines crawl all the way up to the balcony of the prince’s nursery, he would never have found such strong footholds too hold onto as he climbed the tower.

Jumping over the railings and onto the balcony, Madarame headed towards the windows of the nursery, which were half-open. He pushed them wider as he climbed inside.

As Madarame approached the cradle, he looked over the edge to see the much-talked about infant prince. The infant was sleeping peacefully, his hair splayed on the pillow as he was wrapped securely with a blanket. True to the rumors, the prince did indeed have blue hair, which was observably quite long for that of a newborn.

“ _Flower, gleam and glow_  
_Let your power shine_  
_Make the clock reverse_  
_Bring back what once was mine…_ ” He started as the baby’s blue hair started to brightly glow silver. That was a good sign. He took out a pair of scissors from his bag as he moved to try to cut a lock of the magical hair.

“ _Heal what has been hurt,_  
_Change the fates' desi—_ ” Madarame gasped in shock as the lock of hair he tried to snip from the child’s head turned to ash in his hands and the cut lock stopped glowing. The skin of his hand, while youthful-looking in the glow of the baby’s hair, instantly reverted to its wrinkled state.

The sudden noise woke up the infant, which prompted him to loudly start wailing. Madarame instantly heard footsteps in the hall.

Acting quickly, Madarame scooped the baby from his cradle and made a dash for the window just in time for some palace guards to come bursting through the door.

“STOP, KIDNAPPER!” The guard yelled.

Madarame quickly drew the cloak around himself as he leapt off the edge of the balcony. He didn’t have much time to carefully climb.

Thankfully, Madarame landed on a pile of raked leaves that were below him and cushioned the fall. He got up quickly and started running. He could hear the guards starting to catch up to him from behind. He held the baby close to him as he picked up his pace, ducking into alleyways and back streets to throw off his trail, eventually starting to hear the sound of guards growing fainter and fainter behind him until he crossed over the bridge back into the shelter of the forest.

~~~~~

Once safely away from the guards, Madarame looked at the infant that now slept in his arms.

“Yusuke…” He said, feeling the way the word felt on his tongue. He was going to have to get used to saying it for as long as he could fathom. Supporting a child would not be easy, but Madarame was determined to not lose his flower again, and if that meant trying to raise a child then so be it.

He was happy. Happy that he had found his flower once more and could continue living life forever youthful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting another AU in tandem with my Blind Yusuke AU! and I decided in honor of my birthday today, I Should at least publish the Prologue before working on the next chapters for both my fics because I'm honestly so excited for this AU, Not only is Tangled one of my favorite movies and Shukita is one of my favorite ships, this AU was practically begging to be written ever since the Atlus website described Yusuke as having an "Ivory-Tower Disposition" and his relationship with Madarame was hinted at in the trailers all those months ago. 
> 
> On a side note, I decided to go with a Moon motif more for the sake of Aesthetics because I personally do not see Yusuke as being representative of a Sun prince more as I do of a Moon Prince but rest easy, I've got a flower design I'll publish/link in a future chapter for visualization purposes. 
> 
> To all my American friends: I Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and please stay safe on this Black Friday!
> 
> EDIT: I'M SORRY FOR THE DELAY, I PROMISE ONCE I GET CHAPTER 10 OF MY BLIND!YUSUKE AU I'LL GET BACK TO THIS FIC.


	2. Trapped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yusuke is bored and wonders when his life will begin and Madarame claims he knows best.

Yusuke was bored. Probably the most bored he had ever been in his entire life, Which he found unbelievable considering how he had felt this way the day before, and the day before that, and the one prior and so on. As he sat before his easel, trying to figure out what to paint onto the blank canvas that was practically glaring at him; he found his mind wandering in search of inspiration.

Yusuke glanced around the clean, scrubbed floors and organized shelves of the tower in which he lived in and realized that the room was quite dim. He looked up towards the ceiling and noticed that he forgot to open the window near the topmost beam when he had cleaned the tower earlier. Standing up, he grabbed his immensely long hair and tossed it upwards towards one of the beams until it draped around it and back onto the floor, in which Yusuke wrapped a bit of his hair around his ankle before he grabbed the ends of the hair and pulled himself up until he was finally at the top and opened the window. Having the task finished, he gently lowered himself back onto the ground before he pulled his hair back towards him, grabbing his hairbrush from a nearby shelf before he walked back to his seat and started brushing through the long, silky blue strands.

An hour and a half later, after nearly every tangle, snarl, and tear was out of his hair to the point where it almost gleamed when the light hit it, Yusuke put down his hairbrush and let out a loud sigh. Upkeep of his hair was so exhausting but he knew he wasn’t allowed to cut it, lest he lost the magical healing powers that they gave him. Tucking some of his hair behind his ear, he picked up his paintbrush to try and focus on starting the painting. He knew for sure that if Madarame-sensei came back and saw that he had made no progress on his newest painting, he would likely be denied dinner to stretch out resources until he could successfully paint something that Madarame could sell for money that could go towards food and other things.

Despite such a pressing motivation, it was very difficult. Yusuke loved painting. He loved art. He practically lived and breathed it, it had basically been his whole life ever since he was a little boy and would doodle on the walls enough that Madarame saw that he had some talent that could be honed and decided to teach him all the art skills he knew. Still, once Madarame started selling his paintings and putting financial pressure on Yusuke, he found himself having more and more frequent art blocks. Although the more and more Yusuke thought about it, the more he realized he was starting to run out of avenues of inspiration in the cramped, tiny tower in which he lived. There were only so many subjects he could paint when he has been literally stuck in the same place for the last seventeen, going on eighteen years with nobody but his teacher and the occasional bird or butterfly that flew in through the window and the rapidly-shrinking amount of paintable wall space to keep him company. He did have a fox companion when he was younger that he had lovingly named “Inari”, but like most things, that companionship couldn’t last forever and Inari died a couple years ago, and with him, a part of Yusuke’s heart.

As the thought of Inari crossed Yusuke’s mind once more, he put down his paintbrush and walked over to a corner where his younger self had painted a series of portraits of himself playing with the little fox. Images of a small brown fox kit and a smiling 10-year-old Yusuke, his hair much shorter and his cheeks much chubbier, playing fetch together in the tower adorned the portion of the wall. Smiling fondly, Yusuke reached out to one of the images of the little fox and lovingly traced his finger along the outlines of the vulpine creature before his attention was caught by a floating dust speck dancing in the light streaming in from the upper window that he had opened. Yusuke’s gaze followed the dust speck as it floated up in the air in front of the fireplace mantle, where a curtain covered an expanse of wall above it. The presence of the curtained wall along with a note about the current date reminded Yusuke of something he had to do.

Grabbing his paint palette and brush, Yusuke tossed his hair over the beam in front of the curtain and pulled himself up until he reached over to the mantle, grabbed ahold of it, and pulled himself up until he was standing in front of the curtain. He pulled aside the curtains to reveal a mural of himself sitting by a river, his long blue hair trailing out behind him as he watched the night sky lit by a multitude of floating lights. Yusuke took his paint palette and his brush and started mixing the paints before he painted in yet one more lantern and added some more length to his portrait self’s blue hair. Once that was done, he drew the curtain back to hide the mural before he looped his hair back over the beam and lowered himself down.

Ever since he could reach that expanse of wall, Yusuke had been painting that mural and adding more onto it the day before his birthday without fail every passing year as a habit and a means of keeping track of time. Yusuke had been captivated by the floating lights that lit up the night sky on his birthday each year without fail for much longer before he even knew how to paint. He could still remember himself at age five sneaking out of bed while Madarame was asleep just to watch in wonder at the lights and marvel at their immense beauty. The lights were the one source of hope that kept Yusuke going was the possibility that one day, maybe, JUST MAYBE, Madarame would let him leave the tower to go see the floating lights. They provided a much-needed change of pace to the boring monotony and routine of his life in the tower. One could only go through a process of waking up at 7, cleaning, cooking, painting, brushing out his hair and reading so many times before they would eventually grow tired. Any beauty from the experience of day-to-day life had long since been lost. Yusuke couldn’t help but feel like living like this in the tower was not only stifling, but also like it was depriving him of all the beauties of experiencing life that he had only ever read about in the same three books that Madarame had kept for years in the tower, and that in and of itself was almost maddening to Yusuke. He wanted to swim in the ocean. Was it actually as salty as the books claimed? He wanted to run barefoot through an open field and feel what the grass and earth felt like under his feet.  He wanted to feel the sun’s warmth on his skin. He wanted to hear the voices of people other than Madarame, to hear them sing, laugh, cry. He wanted to know what it felt like to have friends, what it felt like to experience emotions because of them, to feel love, joy, pain, jealousy, disappointment, romance…. He wanted to experience the beauty of life as an adventure so that one day he can adequately capture it on paper and canvas. Which were All of the things that life in the tower could not provide him.

Glancing outside the tower’s big main window at the angle of the shadows being cast by the trees in the daylight, Yusuke guessed that it was likely ten in the morning now. Madarame could be home in half an hour and he still hadn’t made even so much as a preliminary sketch for his painting.

Deciding that he had wasted more than enough time, Yusuke grabbed his palette and picked up a pencil before he walked back to the easel and started sketching the first thing that came to mind. Within minutes, the image of several lights floating over the tops of some trees started to take form. Yusuke knew it wasn’t his most original idea, but it would have to do in terms of creating something that would put food on the table. Besides, with his birthday happening the next day, the lights were all that were on his mind. Perhaps now that he was older, if he asked Madarame, maybe he might let him go this year.

“Yusuke!” He heard an older Man's voice call from outside. Perfect timing. “Let down your hair! I'm not getting any younger here, you know!”

Yusuke put his art tools down and hurried to the window.

 “I’m coming, Sensei!” He shouted, feeling a rush of excitement and nervousness as he tried to prepare his nerves for what he will soon ask his teacher. Throwing his hair around a hook outside the window, he let it fall down onto the ground outside until he felt a weight being pulled on it. Yusuke then started pulling his hair back into the tower until Madarame was standing on the ledge.

“Hello Sensei.” Yusuke said, wiping his brow. “Welcome back.”

“Yusuke, it exhausts me just thinking about how you manage to do this every day without fail.” Madarame said as he stepped into the room and placed his things on a nearby table.

“Not really. It’s really no trouble at all.” Yusuke said politely.

“Then I don’t know why it takes so long.” Madarame said as he tied up his grey hair into a low ponytail.

“I’ll try harder next time, Sensei.” Yusuke said.

“Come now Yusuke, it was only a joke.” Madarame replied.

“Right.” Yusuke said, not at all feeling like he found the joke humorous. “I have something to ask.”

“Yusuke, I’m feeling a little worn down. Could you sing for me? The usual song works wonders for my physical and mental health and I feel like I would be in much better shape to talk after that.” Madarame said. Now that Yusuke thought about it, Madarame did look quite tired and he looked a bit older thab he was the last time Yusuke had seen him, with his black hair starting to have lots of grey streaks, his face more wrinkled, and his back a bit more hunched over. Yusuke always wondered if his sensei was actually old, or if his brain was making up the signs of aging as a result of being cooped up in the tower for so long, but he would be lying if he didn't think his hair would have something to do with it.

“Of course. Right away.” Yusuke said, quickly grabbing a chair and moving it near Madarame and letting him sit down before he moved over to sit down in front of Madarame.

On any other ordinary occasion, Yusuke would take his time and sing the song with the right care and pacing that it deserved. However, today he was too excited and what came out was a jumbled mess.

““ _Flowergleamandglowletyourpowershinemaketheclockreversebringbackwhatoncewasminehealwhathasbeenhurtchangethefates'designsavewhathasbeenlostbringbackwhatoncewasmine.”_ Yusuke's hair had only JUST begun to glow brightly and the song was over before Madarame could even settle in his chair. The sound of bones cracking was heard before Madarame almost yelped in shock.

“Yusuke, please calm down.” Madarame scolded as he moved a hand to his lowert back, his posture noticeably straighter and other signs of aging gone.

“Sorry." Yusuke apologized. "So as I was saying Sensei…” Yusuke said, getting up from the floor and pulling up a chair to sit down across from Madarame.

“I see you have started on your new painting.” Madarame interrupted, getting up out of his chair and stepping closer to look at the sketch. “This is… an interesting subject matter you have chosen.”

“It has something to do with what I am about to ask you.” Yusuke said.

“Oh?” Madarame asked curiously. “And what is it?”

“I wish to see these lights.” Yusuke said. “It’s what I want for my birthday… It’s what I wanted for, several birthdays now, in fact.”

“I’m sure they are just a star formation.” Madarame said dismissively. “I don’t see why you can’t just watch them from the tower window.”

“I don’t think so.” Yusuke said, pointing to a high-up section on the wall where he had painted a star path chart. “I’ve charted the stars, and they are constant. These, however…” He added, pointing to the painting. “These ONLY show up once a year, on my birthday in fact. And I just wish I could go outside and see them for myself for once.”

Madarame said nothing.

“Please, Sensei.” He said. “This is incredibly important to me. I need to know what they are. I can’t help but feel like they were meant for me somehow.” Yusuke continued.

Madarame still said nothing, although his face was now all hard lines of disapproval.

“I’m almost eighteen now. Tomorrow is my birthday, and I have never once left this tower. I just wish to go outside for once.” Yusuke added, almost starting to sound desperate with his pleas now.

Finally, Madarame chuckled. “So, you want to go outside?” He asked as he walked over to Yusuke. “You know why we stay in this tower, right?” He continued as he started wrapping a lock of Yusuke’s hair around his finger.

“To keep me safe from the harm of the outside world.” Yusuke responded, answering with the same thing that Madarame had always told him when he had asked why he couldn’t go out.

“That’s right.” Madarame said. “And to keep you safe at a great cost, I might add. Taking care of myself is work enough before I have to take care of you as well.”

“But—” Yusuke began, only to be cut off.

“It’s a scary world out there, Yusuke. You and I both know that people would want to use you for your hair’s powers, and that’s only just the start.” He added. “There are so many other things out there that could make an attempt to go outside disastrous.”

“Such as?” Yusuke prompted. “What could possibly be so bad?”

“Ruffians and thugs, for example.” Madarame began. “Sicknesses, cannibals, venomous snakes, bears, large bugs, men with pointy teeth…. The list goes on.” Madarame said.

“I’m almost a grown man.” Yusuke pointed out. “I am sure I could learn to handle it.”

“Oh sure. Go ahead and get trampled by a bear, or get mugged and left for dead, or get your flesh picked clean off the bone by an infection. But I’m only your teacher and your elder, what do I know?” Madarame retorted. “And if you leave, feel free to leave me behind to rot in this tower because I no longer have someone to look after me.”

“But you seem just fine to me right now, Sensei. Surely you can handle me being away for a day.” Yusuke responded.

“Even without your hair being the way it is, you yourself would not survive on your own out there.” Madarame responded, ignoring Yusuke’s comment. “You’re so gullible and naïve and you’re so skinny that you look like a single gust of wind could snap you in half.” Madarame commented. “Your knowledge of things seems to only lie in what I taught you about art and from the books I left you. You clearly lack the understanding of the outside world to make it on your own.”

“I…” Yusuke began, trying to find a good point to prove his teacher wrong but seeming unable to find one.

“I’m telling you all this for your own good.” Madarame said firmly. “Don't ever ask to leave this tower again. It would only cause you a world of pain if you go out there, so just save yourself that and stay here in this tower. I know best. Do you understand?”

“I understand. I’ll stay, Sensei.” Yusuke said disappointedly. Of course. What was he thinking? Asking to go outside was too much. Yusuke had Madarame’s love and care and he really shouldn’t ask for more, especially since he had so many things to be grateful for, like food, a roof over his head, clothes and a place to sleep as well as protection from all the harm from the outside world. But even with all of that, Yusuke just wished he could have a door to go outside.

“It’s good to see I’ve talked some sense into you.” Madarame responded as he stepped away. “Anyway, I just came back to check to see how you’re doing. I must be off again.” He said. “I will be back later.” He said before he climbed out the window and down Yusuke’s hair back out into the real world.

“Okay Sensei.” Yusuke said as he sadly watched his teacher go out where he couldn’t go and wondered just when, or even if, his life would begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started this fic half a year ago and only now am I actually getting back into writing it now that I'm finally playing P5 and finished up the Kosei Island series! Sorry for the delay but I finally got my inspiration back for this fic.
> 
> On a separate note, I decided I won't be actually writing in any of the songs except for the healing incantation, mostly because It's kinda sorta a minor pet peeve of mine when I see fics do that without at least one character commenting or asking in-story why there is singing when one normally wouldn't be singing (think like the "That's How You Know" Scene from Enchanted.) That being said, I'm still gonna try my hardest to allude heavily to the songs (The mental image of Madarame singing "Mother Knows Best" was too strong lmao) but if someone wants to take inspiration from the fic and make a comic version with songs or something like that, feel free to be my guest, just send it to me because I'd LOVE to see it. 
> 
> Also! Some artists were amazing and drew art for/inspired by this so check them out! 
> 
> Dewdroptown's Art: http://dewdroptown.tumblr.com/post/155696273341/thank-you-tearsofahime-for-blessing-us-with-the#notes
> 
> The-Doodleer's art: http://the-doodleer.tumblr.com/post/160559828169/wondering-when-will-his-life-begin-i-remember


	3. On the Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which We finally meet a certain thief on the run...

Akira found himself running. Not for the first time this week, or this day either in fact, which was incredible considering how it was only 8 in the morning. But here he was, feeling the heat of the sun’s rays on his back as he ran across the tiled rooftop of the palace; but such was the life of a thief. Behind him, he could hear the footsteps of his teammates running to catch up. Akira stopped and looked around to survey the scenery below him.

“Wow this view sure could be something worth getting used to.” Akira said appreciatively, fiddling with his white birdlike mask and looking at the view of the city below him. “Maybe one day, I should get a castle.”

“Once we finish this job, you’ll have enough money to buy THREE castles.” Crow, Akira’s teammate said as he adjusted the long red pointy beaklike mask on his face.

“I can’t wait to see the treasure already!” Akira heard his other teammate, Morgana say as they practically pounced from side to side in excitement in their black-and-white feline form, the yellow neckerchief tied around their neck still staying in place.

“Do you remember where to go, Mona?” Crow asked, addressing Morgana by their codename as he took out a length of rope from his bag.

“Of course I do! I’m the one who surveys all our heist spots, remember?” The catlike creature said. “Without me you both would be nothing.” And with that, they hopped down to a windowsill that led into the room below.

Akira couldn’t help but chuckle at the feline creature’s sassy wit. In a way, Morgana was right. Without Morgana and their shapeshifting abilities, Akira wouldn’t even know the first thing about pulling off a successful heist, let alone get to the point where they were going to steal the most prized treasure in the royal palace. And As for Akira’s other accomplice, Akira couldn’t help but note how much of a huge help Crow was in terms of manpower, even if he was on strictly professional terms with him and only knew his codename, having only teamed up with him after hearing rumors about the other heists Crow pulled off on his own.

“We’re gonna do great guys.” Akira said encouragingly. “Come on, let’s go.” Akira added as he finished tying the rope around himself and handed the end to Crow.

As Akira was steadily lowered into the room towards the treasure, he couldn’t help but take in the grandeur of the interior. The walls were ornate and tastefully decorated, with red velvet carpets, polished marble floors, and woven tapestries and portraits hung on the wall. In the center of the room on a podium sat the treasure: A crown that belonged to the lost prince. A large portrait of him and his mother was hung on the wall behind the podium, his blue hair, soft grey eyes, and his mother's gentle, happy smile painted in vivid detail was enough to make Akira feel momentarily guilty that he was stealing one of the last remaining memories from the child’s parents and the rest of the kingdom. Still, money was money and with Akira being flat broke and having a reputation as a legendary phantom thief to uphold, he had to go through with this.

The crown itself was incredibly stunning. It was a thin circlet made of platinum inlaid with several different gemstones, with a big moonstone with the moon flower insignia of the royal family carved into it mounted in the front and center. For being such a valuable piece of jewelry, the crown was surprisingly minimally guarded. The podium on which the crown rested was open on all sides and only had two guards stationed in front of it: a pair of twin girls in blue guards uniforms who looked to be about fourteen years old.

This heist was going to be unexpectedly easy.

As soon as Akira was halfway down, he gave a signal to Morgana, who nodded before they jumped into the room and started meowing.

“Meeeoww. Mrrow.” Morgana mewled as they padded over in front of the twin guards. Trust Morgana to put on a good show.

The girls, who had been unflinchingly looking forward up until that moment, finally looked down to the cat.

“Caroline, look!” The girl with her hair tied in a braid said as she pointed to the cat. “There’s a cat! It’s so cute.”

“I can see that, Justine. But something feels really suspicious about why it’s here.” Caroline said.

"Awwww you're a pretty kitty aren't you?" Justine said gently to Morgana, ignoring her sister’s words as she bent down to scratch Morgana's ears. Morgana purred loudly in response.

"The question is how did it get in here?" The girl with the twin buns said. She suddenly sneezed.

"Hay fever?" Akira said from behind her as he dangled from the rope.

"More like allergies." The girl with the buns said. She started as she turned around to see him grab the crown and be pulled up to the skylights.

"Stop! Thief!" She shouted.

"Sorry, I gotta go!" Akira shouted down.

"Justine you idiot! Why did you let your guard down?" The girl with the twin-bun hairstyle shouted as she whacked her partner. "THAT'S THE PHANTOM! DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY."

"Caroline call the others, I'll catch them!" Justine shouted.

Morgana hopped onto the pedestal in which the Crown had once rested before leaping into the air and catching onto Akira's leg while Justine jumped up to try to catch the cat, but to no avail.

With that, Caroline blew on her whistle as the sound of running footsteps in the hall was heard.

"Uh-oh. That can't be good." Akira said. He looked up at the skylight he came in through while dangling from midair.

"CROW! CAN'T YOU MAKE THIS THING GO FASTER?" He shouted as he gently tugged on the rope.

"I'm TRYING Joker but it's kind of hard being the only person pulling on the rope!" Crow shouted.

Akira felt Morgana sink their claws into his leg as they climbed up and settled themself on Akira's chest. Akira tugged on the rope as he moved to start climbing up.

As soon as the reinforcements started filling into the room, Akira felt himself being pulled through the skylight. Looking back one last time, Akira stuck his head back into the gap in the roof.

“See ya’!” He shouted before he pulled off the rope, stuck the crown in his satchel and started running alongside Crow and Morgana away from the scene.

“Can’t you picture me living in a castle of my own? Because I certainly can.” Akira said satisfactorily as him and his teammates jumped from the increasingly lowering rooftops of the castle buildings until they finally jumped and landed on the ground before Morgana shapeshifted in the blink of an eye from a cat into a black-and-white horse. Akira and Crow both mounted Morgana before the three of them took off racing down the streets of town, over the bridge and onto the mainland and into the forest.

An hour later, after being chased relentlessly by the palace guards, Akira, Morgana, and Crow finally shuddered to a halt as Morgana, worn down from all the running, finally caught a break as the sound of the castle guards was faint in the distance enough that everyone could catch a breather.

Akira got down from the horse and took a look at his surroundings. His eyes focused on a nearby tree, where a couple of posters had been tacked on.

Akira walked closer before he realized they were wanted signs.

“Oh dear god no. This isn’t good.” Akira said as he tore one of the wanted posters from the tree.

“What is it?” Crow asked as he looked over Akira’s shoulder.

“They just can’t seem to get my nose right!” Akira said in disbelief as he held up the wanted poster for Crow and Morgana to see.

_“WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE_

_A THIEF KNOWN BY HIS VICTIMS AS ‘THE PHANTOM’”_

The poster read, with a sketched artist rendering of Akira’s masked face, or at least an attempted artist rendering. The artist had gotten almost every detail of Akira’s face right, from his sharp, hawklike eyes behind his mask to his messy black hair, sharp grey eyes, and pouty Cupids-bow lips, all of it was accurate, save for the nose, which looked somewhat squashed-looking and flat in the image.

“Who cares?” Crow said dismissively.

“Well, it’s easy for you to say!” Akira said, pointing to the other wanted poster on the tree: a sketched portrait of Crow’s masked face. “You look amazing! For shame though, here I am, a roguishly handsome phantom thief and they can’t even accurately capture my good looks!”  

“Are we done here?” Morgana asked irritatedly as they flicked their tail. “I can hear the guards catching up to us!”

“Alright, let’s keep going.” Akira said, shoving the wanted poster in his satchel as he started dashing off in the direction he was facing, Morgana and Crow following suit.

Eventually though, the group found themselves facing a ledge in front of them. The ledge itself wasn’t all too tall, but it was slightly taller than the average man, and therefore climbing it would take some bit of effort.

“Alright, We’re cornered but we can get out of this.” Akira said, looking at the rock ledge before him before he looked back at his teammates. “Mona, transform into a human and then work with Crow to help me up.”

“Joker, I told you I can’t!” Morgana said, turning back into their cat form.

“What do you mean ‘you can’t?!?’” Akira asked in distressed disbelief.

“I told you, a witch cursed me to lose my ability to transform into a human!” Morgana replied.

“Okay fine.” Akira huffed. “Crow, give me a boost.” He said, turning to his beaked teammate.

“First, give me the satchel.” Crow said, stretching out his hand expectantly.

 In shock, Akira instinctively moved his hand to protect the treasure.

“How…. After all we’ve been through.” He said in disbelief.

Crow still didn’t budge.

“Fine.” Akira whined as he handed over the satchel. “Now help me up.”

“Not going to happen.” Crow said as he took off his mask, unsheathed his knife and reached under his shirt and pulled out a medallion branded with the moon-flower insignia of the royal court.

“Wait what?” Akira asked in alarm.

“My real name is Goro Akechi. I’m a private investigator for the King’s Guard, and I finally have grounds to arrest you.” Crow said.

“But you were committing way more crimes and thefts before I even teamed up with you!” Akira exclaimed. “I TRUSTED you.”

“Not my fault you made that dumb decision. But honestly who is everyone more likely to believe? A thief? Or one of the King’s detectives?” Goro pointed out. “It wouldn’t seem too out of character if said thief just happens to have a couple more crimes pinned to him even though he didn’t do them and meanwhile, I get to walk away with the glory that comes with catching the legendary Phantom.”

There was a pause as Akira realized he was in a bit of a bind.

“Exactly what I thought.” Goro said, satisfied with the outcome. “Now, come with me.”

“No can do.” Akira said, as he noticed the first of the King’s Guards finally catching up. “I’m out of here.” And with one determined breath, Akira leaped to the ledge, catching the end before he hoisted himself up.

“Wait no!” Goro shouted.

“Joker, Wait up!” Morgana yelled before they snatched the satchel out of Goro’s hand and leaped onto the ledge before transforming into a horse before Akira grabbed the satchel and climbed up on Morgana’s back. As soon as Akira kicked his heels into Morgana’s sides, Morgana bolted into the forest.

“Come back here!” Goro shouted as the King’s men finally caught up with Goro.

“Keep going, Morgana!” Akira shouted as he heard the guards tailing him. “They’re gaining on us.”

“I’m TRYING, Akira!” The shapeshifter shouted, finally resorting to using Akira’s real name now that Goro was out of earshot. “I’m exhausted from running at top speed for so long!”

No sooner had Morgana said that then they jolted to a stop, almost flinging Akira forward and off of them from the inertia.

Akira took a look around to see why Morgana had stopped before he realized that they were standing at the edge of a high cliff. Behind them, the sound of the King’s Guards rapidly got closer until they all burst from the foliage and surrounded Akira and Morgana.

“THIS IS THE KING’S GUARD.” A man in armor shouted. “We have you surrounded. Surrender now, or suffer the consequences.”

Akira gulped as he looked at the people surrounding him and then back to his accomplice.

“I think we have no choice.” Akira said. “It was a good run, Morgana.”

“Same to you, Akira.” Morgana said as they turned around to face the guards. That was until Morgana lost footing on a bit of rock that crumbled under their hooves and slipped off the ledge.

Akira and Morgana both screamed in unison as they felt themselves falling. Morgana transformed back into a cat form while Akira gripped the satchel tighter to his chest as he looked for anything he could grab onto on the way down.

He grabbed onto a tree branch growing from the craggy rocks in the cliff, holding onto it until Morgana landed on top of Akira, the sheer force enough to cause the tree branch to rip out and send the two falling.

Akira closed his eyes and hoped that his death would be a painless one until he felt himself land in foliage with a loud rustle of tree branches and leaves. As Akira opened his eyes, he found himself tangled in the branches of a moderately-sized tree that looked relatively easy to climb down. Akira looked around for any sign of Morgana that he could find. He saw no sign of neither a black-and-white cat nor a black-and-white horse.

“Morgana!” Akira shouted. There was no reply. “Mona!” Still no reply.

Akira could only hope that the worst didn’t happen to his partner-in-crime as he climbed down from the tree and picked the leaves and branches out of his hair and clothes and finally took off the mask that obscured his eyes and replaced them with a pair of glasses. Akira surveyed his surroundings. He was in a dense amount of foliage, with barely any sign of any human usage, save for an overgrown path that looked like it hadn’t been used in ages.

Curiously, Akira followed the path as it meandered through the forest until he eventually came to a dead end with a rock ledge covered in vines. Akira sighed and leaned against it to catch his breath, exhausted from the whole ordeal of the morning’s heist and all the running, only to fall through and into what he now realized was a well-hidden cave-like tunnel, judging from the bit of light shining in through the other side.

Akira followed the tunnel, keeping his hand on the wall as a guide until he pushed aside the curtain of vines on the other side.

Akira’s eyes widened as he took in what he saw. Right in front of him was a gorgeous, wide-open clearing with plenty of trees, flowers and even a little creek running through it as the morning sun shone down gently into it. That wasn’t the most impressive thing he saw though. Right in the center of it was a soaring tower, with grey-and-red bricks engulfed with moss and flowering vines with a windowed, roofed spire at the top. The whole thing looked like something out of a fairytale to Akira as he took in its grandeur.

If fate was a thing, then it was truly smiling down on Akira at this very moment. Deciding that he needed a place to rest and recover from the morning, Akira headed towards the tower, hauling himself up the side of the building with the assistance of the vines until he finally collapsed inside the tower, thoroughly exhausted from using his last bit of energy to scale the high building.

As soon as Akira was inside, the first thing he noticed, as he looked around to find a bed or a couch to crash on, was that every inch of the enormous amount of wall space were all painted with vivid designs and patterns. The floor looked like it had been recently scrubbed and polished, but despite all that, it seemed like nobody was in the tower.

Akira took a deep sigh of relief.  "Alone at last." he said, opening his satchel to look inside.

The moment didn't last long as he was immediately hit upside the head with something hard and flat; his world going black as he passed out on impact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is relatively short and I dashed it out quickly without a beta because I have a midterm on Thursday but this was sitting on my mind. Look forward to the next chapter because things are gonna get good from here on out! (Also I cast Goro the way I did because of some things that happen in the main game's plot. Sorry for having a spoiler so soon.)
> 
> Also I remember LONG before the game even came out in Japan, someone drew a thing where Akira did the "They just can't get my nose right." But I can't find it but if I do, I will most certainly post a link in this note!


	4. Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yusuke and Akira finally meet...

Yusuke’s hands were shaking as he tried to steady his grip on the handle of the frying pan. He couldn’t help but stare in horror at both the unconscious man on the floor and the tool used to knock him out. This whole situation suddenly felt unreal, like some dream or nightmare that was unfolding before his eyes. He couldn’t believe he actually just did that.

The shock of that realization was soon replaced with a feeling of excitable joy that bubbled up in Yusuke’s heart.

“I actually did that!” He said excitedly, a broad, almost maniacal smile spreading across his face as he did so. He laughed.

“I’m not strong enough to go outside, Sensei? Think again.” Yusuke said turning to face the mirror as he confidently swung the frying pan around, only to accidentally hit the side of his head from a miss-swing, prompting a hiss of pain from Yusuke.

Once the pain had calmed, Yusuke took a look again at the man who laid passed out on the floor, the previously-light, elated feeling of accomplishment being replaced with a heavier feeling of fear and apprehension as he remembered Madarame’s warnings about the outside world. What if this man were carrying some sort of illness? What if he was a dangerous criminal? What if he was here to try and steal Yusuke’s powers?

Cautiously, Yusuke stepped forward and knelt on the ground to take a closer look at the intruder, using his feet to roll him onto his side as he did so. Although most of the stranger’s face was obscured, his face was turned enough that Yusuke could see his mouth. Taking the end of the frying pan, Yusuke nudged the stranger’s upper lip up so he could get a better look at his teeth, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that his teeth were blunt, if at least a little bit too perfect and white, overall a normal set of teeth like his own, save for a few small differences. Yusuke wondered why now he was thinking of teeth of all things especially since he never thought he would, but at least he didn’t have to worry that the intruder was one of the men with pointy teeth that Madarame had warned him about. The man also had soft-looking messy black curly hair and wore a black tunic and equally-black pants and sturdy-looking boots, and a tan satchel was slung across his shoulder.

Curiously, Yusuke took the satchel and reached his hand into it, not taking his eyes off the stranger in case he woke up. Instantly, something metallic and something that was wooden and leathery-feeling brushed against Yusuke’s fingertips. Yusuke pulled out the strange items. In his hands, were a birdlike white mask with black detailing around the eyes, and a sparkly silver circlet. Yusuke stared in awe at the two trinkets in his hand. Both were beautiful in their own right but were so very different in their form, function, and aesthetics.

Turning to face the mirror, Yusuke placed the mask over his eyes. He stared at his reflection, taking in how the mask simultaneously hid some of his features like his eyes while bringing out others like his cheekbones. It was a very different version of his appearance than he had been used to and Yusuke wasn’t sure whether he really liked it all that much, especially since the mask’s aesthetics didn’t seem to mesh all too well with his own. He took the mask off and placed the circlet on his head. As he stared in the mirror, Yusuke couldn’t help but feel almost like as if he felt like he was supposed to wear it, like he somehow felt strangely at home with it in his possession. He couldn’t stop staring transfixed at his reflection as he noted how the gems caught the light streaming in from the window and separated it into a multitude of sparkling smaller glints. Perhaps later, he could try sketching it and do a little study in light and color...

His train of thought was rudely interrupted by Madarame shouting.

“Yusuke! I’m back!” The older man said from below the tower window.

Frantically, Yusuke tore his eyes away from the mirror, snatching the circlet off his head and shoving it and the mask back into the satchel before he quickly stored the satchel in a nearby pot. He turned to face the stranger who was still passed out on the floor. His attention was briefly caught by a nearby wardrobe closet. That will have to do.

Yusuke flung open the closet doors before he picked the stranger up, hefting his limp unconscious body up before he nearly tossed him into the closet, closing the doors and bolting them shut in case the intruder woke up and tried to break out. 

“Yusuke! What is taking you so long?” Madarame shouted impatiently.

“I’ll be right there, Sensei!” Yusuke shouted as he scrambled over to the window, throwing his hair out and through the hook as he did so before he started pulling Madarame up.

“I have a surprise for you, Sensei.” Yusuke said as soon as Madarame stepped through the window.

“As do I.” Madarame said. “You are actually going to have dinner tonight!”

Yusuke’s stomach growled almost in response to the promise of food.

“Thank you, Sensei.” Yusuke said, bowing his head in appreciation. “I truly do appreciate this, but I can assure you that my surprise is most certainly bigger. There is something I need to tell you.”

“Well then, let’s hear it. I suppose I should listen considering I do feel bad about leaving after an argument especially when I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Well, Alright.” Yusuke mumbled, a chilling, nervous feeling started creeping into his heart the more he thought about it.

“Yusuke, you know how I feel about mumbling.” Madarame said sternly.

“Well, okay then.” Yusuke said loudly before he took a deep breath, only somewhat calming his jittery nerves as he did so. “You know how I’ve been thinking a lot about what we talked about earlier and—”

“I truly do hope you aren’t still talking about going to see the stars.” Madarame said as he unpacked the things he was carrying in his bag.

“They're floating lights, and well, yes. Actually I was going to get to that, I—” Yusuke almost stammered.

“I thought we had agreed to drop the subject.” The icy edge in Madarame’s tone of voice went unnoticed as Yusuke kept going, completely unable to read the mood.

“Well, I’m just saying that because you say I’m not strong enough to go outside—”

“Because I KNOW you aren’t strong enough to go outside.” Madarame said, all but abandoning his bag to turn to face Yusuke.

“Well, actually no. That may be what you think but—” Yusuke continued.

“Yusuke…” Madarame said in warning.

“But if you’ll please just hear me out—”

“YUSUKE, ENOUGH ABOUT THE LIGHTS!” Madarame roared. “YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE THIS TOWER. EVER!”

Yusuke stopped talking, folding his hands in front of his chest and turning away from Madarame as he could feel the sense of heartbreak start to settle into his heart. He took a glance back up at the painting of himself watching the lights before he sighed in resignation and looked back to his teacher.

“I… Understand, Sensei.” Yusuke said, just BARELY trying to keep his voice from breaking into sobs.

“Fantastic.” Madarame said as he collapsed into a nearby chair. “Now I’M the one in the wrong.”

“All I was going to ask…” Yusuke began. “Was if you could get me a new set of paints for my birthday, The kind that’s made from the white shells that you once got for me.”

Madarame sighed exasperatedly. “You’re asking me to get you that for your birthday? I hope you know I have to travel for three days in order to buy them.”

“I just thought that it might be a better idea than to see the… stars.” Yusuke said quietly, but clearly enough for Madarame to hear him. He hoped that whatever god or deity that was out there that controlled his life, they'd take pity on him and at least grant him that one wish.

“Fine.” Madarame said as he got up. “I shall set out at once.” He continued as he grabbed his cloak and his bag.

He turned back to face Yusuke.

“Are you sure that you will be alright?” He asked.

Yusuke nodded. “I know I’ll be safe so long as I am here.” He said.

“Alright.” Madarame said as he took Yusuke’s hair and tossed it out the window. “I’ll be back in three days. Do take care of yourself.” He said.

Yusuke nodded. “I will, Sensei. You too.”

And with that, Yusuke watched Madarame climb out the window and back out into the world outside.

As soon as Madarame was out of sight, he pulled all his hair back into the tower and turned to face the closet.

Striding across the room, Yusuke unbolted the closet doors and yanked them open. The still-unconscious stranger toppled out on top of him, and Yusuke caught him in his arms and dropped him into a chair, grabbing several handfuls of his hair and using them to tie the stranger to his seat.

As Yusuke was tying knots around the stranger, he finally had an opportunity to fully take in the features of his face. Yusuke noticed the stranger was about his age, and had pouty-looking cupids-bow lips, strong eyebrows, and a pair of glasses in which the light streaming in from the window reflected off of and somewhat obscured his eyes, which Yusuke noticed were framed with thick eyelashes. Overall, he was quite pretty, beautiful, even. Yusuke found himself staring transfixed at the stranger’s aesthetic beauty as he continued tying the knots. Perhaps under less pressing circumstances, Yusuke would have considered using him as a model for one of his paintings, but for now, he needed to secure his own safety first.

As Yusuke finished tying up the last knot, the stranger finally stirred with a loud groan as his eyes slowly fluttered open.

Yusuke caught a glimpse of a pair of sharp-looking grey eyes just blinking back into consciousness before he ducked back into the shadows and climbed up onto a beam in both instinctive panic and a desire to get a better vantage point to observe the stranger.

He had a lot of questions, and this person was his only way of getting answers and Yusuke was determined to get them, one way or another.

~~~~~

The first thing Akira saw when he woke up was hair. Lots of it. Thick, enormously long blue locks trailed everywhere around him, nearly covering every inch of the small room he was in.

Hold on. Something was off. Where was he? Akira jolted back into full consciousness with a yelp as he realized that several locks of hair had been used to tie him to a chair, and not only that, but his satchel was missing.

“Where’s my satchel?!” He shouted in panic as he struggled against the restraints tying him to his seat. “Where am I?”

“Struggling… Struggling is futile!” Akira heard a deep voice say from the depths of the shadows, a hint of a stutter tainting the voice.

“What? Who’s there?” Akira asked.

From the darkness emerged the owner of the enormous lengths of hair: a tall, extremely skinny girl (or boy, Akira couldn’t tell since their features were fairly androgynous), with beautiful grey eyes, long eyelashes and pale skin. The stranger was clad in a blue tunic vest over a white shirt with a red-and-white striped sash tied around their vest and clutched a frying pan in one hand. If not for the fact that the situation was somewhat dangerous and the stranger was holding their frying pan in the most threatening manner, Akira might have found the stranger quite pretty.

“I know why you’re here, and I want you to know that I am not… I’m not a-afraid of you.” The stranger continued, his voice slightly faltering as he did so.

Akira couldn’t help but chuckle. “You sure about that, Blue?” He snorted, noticing the apprehension in the stranger’s eyes.

“B-blue?” The stranger stuttered in alarm.

“Yeah, you know, like your hair. I don’t know your name and it would be kind of rude of me to not address you with something.” Akira said matter-of-factly.

“It’s Yusuke.” The stranger said. “But never mind that, who are you and how did you find me?” Yusuke said, brandishing their frying pan.

“Yeah, no, I feel like we may have started off on the wrong foot. Let’s try this again.” Akira said, clearing his throat. “I know not who you are, nor how I came to find you, but can I just say… Hi.” He said, cracking a cheeky smile in the hopes that maybe his flirtatious charm could help alleviate the tense mood. “The name’s Joker. How’s your day going?”

“That is enough!” Yusuke sighed exasperatedly. “Who else knows my location, _Joker_? Which I doubt is even your real name.”

“Hey, whoa.” Akira said, tilting his hands up at the wrists in some semblance of a gesture of surrender. “First of all, I’m not giving my real name out to just about anybody. And secondly, I was lost in the forest, I came across this tower, and I decided to stop here. Now can you please tell me what is going on and where is my satchel?”

“I’ve hidden it somewhere where you’ll never find it.” Yusuke said smugly, putting their hands on their hips. Something about their gaze betrayed their words though, and Akira followed it until it rested on a large, colorfully-painted pot at the side of the room.

“It’s in that pot, isn’t it?” Akira said.

Instantly, he felt the hard metal of the skillet collide with the side of his head and he passed out on impact.

~~~~~

Akira woke up to a pounding headache and the feeling of ice-cold water being splashed on his face.

“WHAT WAS THAT FOR?” Akira spluttered; spitting out some water as Yusuke glared at him.

“NOW it’s hidden where you’ll never find it.” Yusuke said. Their tone dropped into a more threatening register. “So tell me, what do you want to do with my hair?” Yusuke asked. “Do you want to cut it?”

“Wait, what? No!” Akira exclaimed in bewilderment.

“Or do you want to sell it?” Yusuke continued.

“No! I have no idea what is going on, but the only thing I want to do with your hair is to get out of it!” Akira shouted in exasperation as he struggled against the bonds.

Yusuke stopped. “Wait, so you are telling me that you DON’T want my hair?” They said apprehensively.

“Just WHY on Earth would I even WANT your hair?” Akira asked in frustration. “I was being chased, I fell off a cliff and survived, I saw the tower and then I climbed it. End of story. 

Yusuke lowered their frying pan. “Wait, you’re actually telling the truth?” He asked.

“YES!” Akira said. “That’s what I’ve been telling you!”

Yusuke paused and looked at a curtained-off spot on the wall for a while, almost like as if they were in thought before they turned back to face Akira. “Alright, Joker. I am prepared to offer you a deal.”

“Deal? What deal?” Akira asked.

“Look at this.” Yusuke said as they turned Akira’s chair around to face the curtained off area of the wall they had been looking at earlier before they took the ends  of their hair and threw it over a beam. Yusuke climbed up the length of hair before they pushed aside the curtain to reveal a gorgeous, colorful, vibrantly-painted picture of Yusuke looking up towards a sky full of floating lanterns.

“Do you know what these are?” Yusuke asked as they pointed to the painted lights and turned back to face Akira.

“You mean the lantern thing they do for the lost prince?” Akira said.

A look of realization passed over Yusuke’s face.

“Lanterns… I KNEW they weren’t stars.” Akira heard Yusuke muttering under his breath. Yusuke turned and looked back at Akira.

“Well, tomorrow evening, they will light the night sky with these ‘lanterns.’ You will act as my guide and take me to see those lanterns and bring me safely home. Then, AND ONLY THEN, will I give you back your satchel. That is our deal.”

Akira shook his head. “Yeah, no. I can’t do that. Me and the kingdom aren’t exactly ‘best buddies’ at the moment if you catch my drift. I was kinda running away from them earlier, to be honest."

“Fine.” Yusuke said, closing the curtain and hopping back onto the floor. “Then you won’t get your satchel back.” Yusuke walked back to face Akira until their face was inches away from Akira’s. “But in that case, know that you can tear this tower apart, brick by brick and you will NEVER find your precious satchel again.”

"I doubt that." Akira said snarkily. 

Yusuke turned back to face Akira. "Something brought you here, Joker. Call it what you will: Fate, Destiny—”

"A Horse." Akira interjected matter-of-factly. "Or a cat-horse shapeshifter thing if we're going to be specific." 

"Whatever it is that brought you here, it is a sign that I should trust you." Yusuke said, seeming to ignore what Akira had just said. 

"A HORRIBLE decision, if you ask me." Akira said. "I Feel like we've got conflicting interests here and it will only cause us both trouble." 

"And yet, somehow, I get the feeling that you'd get even more trouble if you didn't get your satchel back." Yusuke said. 

A silence fell over the room as if Yusuke's deduction was so on-the-mark that It left Akira unable to answer back with a snarky response. Still, Akira broke the silence. 

“Alright.” Akira sighed exasperatedly. Desperate times called for desperate measures but never once had he ever had any failures with getting what he wanted from people with his next trick, even if he did find it a bit too much and too extra, even for him. “You leave me no choice. I’m gonna have to use The Smolder.”

Akira’s expression changed into a puppy-eyed one with furrowed brows and his lips turned into a pout as he stared at Yusuke.

Yusuke stared back at Akira, unblinking, his expression not changing save for a hint of confusion in his eyes.

“This is a really off day. This normally works really well on the ladies too.” Akira said.

“For your information: I’m a man, thank you very much.” Yusuke said, his eyes narrowing.

“Okay and it has also worked on quite a few guys too, just saying.” Akira said.

Yusuke looked unimpressed.

“FINE! I’ll go and take you to see the lights!” Akira said in surrender. “Are you happy?”

Yusuke’s expression changed from one of unamused apprehension to one of pure joy in virtually the blink of an eye. “I am!” He said, smiling joyfully. “Thank you so much!”

“Alright, now please help get me out of this hair.” Akira said, finding himself chuckling at Yusuke’s enthusiasm, which in all honesty, he couldn’t help but think was adorable.

“Of course, hang on.” Yusuke said as he rushed forward and started undoing the knots that bound Akira.

As soon as Akira was free, he stood up.

“If we want to get there by tomorrow, we should go now.” Akira said, as he looked outside. He turned back to face Yusuke. “Are you ready to go?”

Yusuke walked over to the window and threw his hair out before he turned back and looked around the room again, taking in every detail like it was his last time.

“Well, while you  do that, I’m going to go on ahead.” Akira said as he climbed out the window and slid down Yusuke’s hair until he was safely on the ground.

He looked back up at the tower window above him.

And then he waited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, part of what inspired me to do this AU was a piece of art that madamerinrin/ask-chairkun did of the "Smolder" line and while I sadly can't find it, If i do I will totally link it.
> 
> EDIT: There is now art of the boys in their outfits done by ouji-draws on tumblr!   
> https://ouji-draws.tumblr.com/post/162017076687/a-little-wip-till-my-new-tablet-arrives-but-its


	5. Cafe LeBlanc

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira and Yusuke finally run into some rowdy company...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clear up any confusion, Akira is still being referred to as "Joker" in this chapter because it's all from Yusuke's point of view and he doesn't know his accomplice's real name yet.

Yusuke watched Joker climb down his hair and down to the base of the tower. Once Yusuke could feel the tug on his hair loosen, he turned back to face the rest of the room. He gazed at the painted walls of the tower, taking in their color and shapes and watching the dust motes dance in front of them all the way up to the ceiling on the light of the sun in through the window.

“Yusuke!” Joker shouted from down below. “Do you want to see the lights or not?”

“I’ll be right there.” Yusuke said as he grabbed a bag off the nearby table and shoved his sketchbook and a couple pencils into it as well as a small frying pan, which he reasoned he may need in case he needed to defend himself.

Once the bag was packed, Yusuke slung his bag over his shoulder and turned around and looked back at the walls of the tower yet again. As he did, he could feel a swirl of emotions in his heart. Even though they were of a hopeful nature, Yusuke could feel the fluttering of the metaphorical butterflies in the stomach that he had always read about. This is the only life he’d ever known, and he had wished to leave it for so long, but now that it was happening, he couldn’t also help but feel nervous about what the future and the world outside the tower had in store for him.

Well, there was only one way to find out.            

Turning back to face the window, Yusuke walked towards it and climbed up on the windowsill. Clutching his hair for support, he looked down. At the bottom of the high drop, Joker stood there, looking up expectantly. The sun was shining bright and it almost seemed to make the greens of the trees and the grass and the blue of the sky even more vibrant. It was all beautiful. And yet somehow now Yusuke was scared to experience it.

No. He had this opportunity. There was no reason to throw it away.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and jumped.

Yusuke could feel the wind blow in his face and through his hair and clothes as he fell, the feeling of his hair sliding through his hands until he finally could feel himself hovering off the ground, the blades of grass tickling the bottom of his bare feet as he did so.

“It’s okay, you can let go now.” Yusuke heard Joker’s voice say.

Opening his eyes, Yusuke looked down, and saw himself maybe no less than three inches off the ground. Letting go, he landed softly.  

Yusuke felt his eyes widen as he took in all the signs and sounds that now surrounded him.

The warmth of the sun’s rays shone down upon him, his blue hair catching the light and almost gleaming from how much he had brushed it earlier, no singing necessary. The air was clean, and the sweet and subtle smell of wildflowers and the sound of the creek trickling filled the air. A blue butterfly fluttered past Yusuke’s face before he held his hand out and let it land on him. It sat there for a couple seconds and twitched its antennae before it left just as a flock of birds burst from the trees and flew skyward. Yusuke wriggled his toes, feeling the soft, cool feeling of the grass under his feet as he looked around and took in all the vibrant colors of the scene before him, from the rainbow of colors from the flowers to the green of the grass and blue of the sky and the grey of the tower that now loomed over him and Joker. Simply drawing this all would not do the whole scene justice.

It was all so beautiful.

Yusuke found himself laughing. This likely seemed so unbecoming, but right now he didn’t care. His heart felt so light. He was finally free. It was all he had dreamed it was like.

And before he knew it, he was running towards the forested area and feeling the breeze in his face and the feeling of the grass under his feet and the weight of his hair trailing behind him. He only stopped when he eventually ran out of breath.

As he stopped and let his heart rate calm down and catch some air, Yusuke heard footsteps behind him.

Turning, he saw Joker running to catch up after him.

“Wow.” He wheezed, placing his hands on his knees to catch his breath. “For someone who looks so frail I thought they could break at any moment, you sure can run fast.”

Yusuke felt his face flush, a fact not helped by the fact that he could feel the blood rush to his face from running. “Is that bad?” He asked.

Joker shook his head. “Not really, although you were running fast enough that you covered quite a bit of ground.” He said. “You must really want to see those lights if you almost ran half a mile in one go.” He chuckled. He shifted his weight and put his hands in his pockets. “Gotta say though, for someone who seems like he’s never willingly left the tower before in his life, this is quite an act of rebellion against whoever is keeping you there. I’m kind of impressed.”

Instantly, Yusuke felt a cold chill take hold over his heart as his eyes widened.

“Rebellion?” He asked softly, as if he didn’t want to hear the truth about what was just said, even though deep down he knew it was all true.

“That’s what I said, didn’t I?” Joker said.

Yusuke sat down right where he was and put his head in his hands.

“Oh my god.” He said, wide-eyed. “What am I doing?”

“Well, I mean—” Joker was cut off as Yusuke continued on, seemingly not listening to him.

“Sensei will be so furious.” Yusuke said, grabbing a couple handfuls of his hair at his scalp. “And then he’ll be heartbroken that I left him.”

“Ummm…” Joker began. He got no response as Yusuke continued on in his own little world.

“I mean, it will only be for one day. I can always come back afterwards.” Yusuke continued. “And what Sensei won’t know won’t kill him… right?”

“Uhhh if I may?” Joker said.

Yusuke turned to look back at Joker.

“Well…” Joker cleared his throat as he sat down next to Yusuke. “I can’t help but notice that you’re kind of at war with yourself right now.” He said. “I’m only picking up bits and pieces but from what I can guess you’ve got a lot on your plate. I mean, overbearing mentor-slash-father figure, a forbidden road trip, a sheltered existence… I get it. A little rebellion and resistance here and there is all a part of growing up.”

Yusuke loosened his hold on his hair. “Do you really think so?” He asked.

“Of course!” Joker said. “You’re overthinking this whole thing. I mean, does your Sensei deserve this? No. Would it break his heart and crush his soul? Probably. But at the end of the day you’ve got to make those choices for yourself about if this is all worth it.”

 “But this is so beautiful…” Yusuke said, looking up towards the trees that surrounded him. “Could it really be all that wrong?”

“It’s… just a forest.” Joker said.

“Yes, but it’s my first time walking through one!” Yusuke said. “It’s like my entire perspective has changed just being here. Sensei kept me protected but out here I can truly see everything.”

“But you literally only went outside.” Joker pointed out, somewhat bemusedly. “I mean nothing’s changed except maybe you can see more than out of that cage in the sky.” He put his hand on Yusuke’s back. “If you really want to, you can go back at any time.”

He cleared his throat. “Actually let me change that statement and say that you will go back.” Joker said. “Sorry, I’m gonna have to let you out of the deal. There’s too much going on for me to let you come along with me. And you clearly have a parental relationship you might need to work on.”

“No!” Yusuke said as he abruptly stood back up. “We are GOING to see those lights.”

“Alright then…” Joker said as he turned to face the path ahead of the two of them. Suddenly a strange look passed over his face.

“Hey…” He began. “You look like you don’t eat much. When was the last time you had food?”

Yusuke’s stomach growled loudly in response.

“I haven’t eaten in days.” Yusuke said, putting his hands to his stomach. “Sensei promised me earlier today that he’d make food for me but then he didn’t make me any before he left.”

“That sounds rough.” Joker said. “I do know a good café that serves food nearby. It’s got great food and a cozy atmosphere. Perfect for you, we don’t want your first experience in the real world to scare you and make you give up on this whole thing now do we?”

“Well,” Yusuke said. “I would like to be able to eat sometime soon.” He said.

“Great! “Joker said. “Let’s get going.”

~~~~~

It turned out the café was not a café. Its name of “Café LeBlanc” suggested that it had once been, but it had long since basically turned into a tavern.

And like any tavern, it brought in all sorts of shady and rowdy folk.

As Yusuke walked in through the doorway of the thatch-roofed, paint-peeling building, he realized he had made a mistake.

All the loud discussions that had filled the air instantly died as soon as he and Joker walked into the tavern. Immediately, Yusuke could feel a spike in nervousness in his heart. Joker however, was unaffected as he followed after Yusuke and closed the door behind him.

“Well, we’re here!” Joker announced almost a little too cheerfully before he started walking over to an open bar seat.

Yusuke could feel all eyes on him as he followed Joker, which only made his anxiety worse. Suddenly he felt something pull on his hair. He turned to look back to see a rough-looking blond-haired boy his age holding his hair in his hands.

“Whoa… that’s a lot of hair.” He said.

“I know, right?” Joker said. “He’s growing it out.”

“Yo sweet!” The blond said, grinning as he did. Yusuke noticed the boy’s sharp-looking teeth and let out an undignified squeak of terror as he ran to hide behind Joker.  

“Ryuji let go of it already!” The blonde-pigtailed girl sitting next to him said as she smacked his side. “You’re scaring him!”

“Sorry Ann.” Ryuji said as he dropped his hold on Yusuke’s hair.

“P-Pointy teeth!” Yusuke stuttered, remembering his mentor's words. He stepped backward and felt himself bump into something. Or more like someone.

“Hey! Why don’t you watch where you’re going?” A deep, gruff-sounding voice said from behind. Yusuke turned to face a tall, unshaven man with a cap pulled low over his face, his drink spilled all over the front of his tunic.

“I’m so sorry!” Yusuke almost squeaked.

“You better be.” The man said.

“Here, Iwai-san!” A girl with curly auburn hair said as she walked out from behind the counter where she was assisting an older-looking man with a pointed goatee beard who was no doubt the bartender, if not the owner of the place. Yusuke watched her wipe her hands on the front of her apron that covered her barmaid outfit and grab a rag and walk over to Iwai and hand the piece of fabric to him, which he took and started sopping up the spilled liquid on the front of his shirt. Once that task was done, she walked over to a nearby booth where a girl with short brown hair was playing shogi against a girl with long black hair that was adorned with a red clover-shaped hairpin.

“Do you need me to refill your drink, Mako-chan?” She asked politely, clasping her hands behind her as she did so.

“I’m good for right now, Haru.” The brown-haired girl said politely. “I think Hifumi might need a refill though.” She said.

The black haired girl only nodded, not even looking up as she was deep in concentration on her game. She took a piece and placed it in a square.

“Your army is no match for the Togo Kingdom!” She exclaimed, almost cackling. “Your move, Niijima-san.”

 Haru laughed and took the drink glass and walked back to the counter, pausing along the way to take an empty glass from a boy with spiky dark hair that sat at the counter.

“I’ll be right with you!” She said, facing Yusuke and Joker as she did so.

“Haru, when you’re done serving customers, can you check on the curry?” The bartender said. “I need to start brewing some coffee for Futaba here.”

“Of course, Sojiro-san.” Haru said.

As soon as the man said that, a Hand shot out from under the counter and held up a mug. Yusuke had to do a double take to make sure he wasn’t imagining things but the hand was still there, and now aggressively shaking the mug.

“Okay, Futaba-chan I’ll wash your mug. Please be patient.” Haru laughed, taking the mug.

As soon as the mug had been handed over, the hand retreated and was replaced with a figure with long orange hair that wore a comically grotesque mask over their face.

Yusuke almost jumped at seeing it before he calmed down. He could have sworn that he had heard laughter being echoed in the spacious-looking mask. The girl (Yusuke assumed the person was a girl at least) walked over to an unoccupied booth and squatted on her seat and pulled open a book and started writing in it.

Overall, the whole atmosphere and all its people was so much for Yusuke. He had taken out his sketchbook to start drawing as a means to calm himself amid the tense atmosphere of everyone regarding him and Joker when Haru finally walked back over.

“I’m sorry for the wait.” She said. “What would you like?”

Yusuke’s stomach growled loudly.

“I heard you have curry.” He said, feeling his mouth water at the thought of food. “Please give me your largest serving of that.”

“Dang, Yusuke.” Joker chuckled. “I’m not made of money you know.”

“Dude that’s not how you should treat your date.” Ryuji said.

“He’s not my date!” Joker said defensively, his face turning a slight shade of pink as he did so.

For some strange reason, Those four words somehow evoked a twinge of disappointment in Yusuke’s heart. He couldn’t quite explain why though. For now though there was no lie in Joker’s statement.

“I have to agree with him.” Yusuke said.

“Speaking of who you aren’t.” Makoto said, getting up from her booth to stretch her limbs. “Just who exactly ARE you?” She walked closer to inspect Joker’s face. “I could have sworn I have seen you somewhere before.”

“I get that a lot.” Joker said visibly trying to hide his nervousness. “I mean, I hear my features are pretty common so maybe you have me confused for someone else.”

“He’s bullshitting you.” Iwai said, crossing the room to tear down a poster that was on the wall and bringing it back to Makoto. “This is where you’ve seen him.”

Joker turned to look at the poster and came face-to-face with another sketched “Wanted” poster. Much like in the last wanted poster, everything about his masked features was accurate except for the nose, which this time was long and beaklike and VERY MUCH unlike his own nose.

“Okay now they’re just being mean.” Joker said as Yusuke looked over his shoulder.

“So you admit that is you in the picture?” Makoto said, crossing her arms.

Ryuji and Ann instantly got up to take a look.

“Dude, You’re right!” Ryuji said, looking to the poster and then to Joker and back to the poster again.

“I can’t believe the Phantom is here in this very Café!” The spiky-haired boy said, hurrying over to Joker. “I’m such a huge fan!” He said. “How do you do what you do? Tell me your secret.”

“Whoa.” Ann said, gently shoving the boy away from Joker. “Calm down, Mishima.” She said.

“Yeah, chill there fanboy, or else you’ll scare off your idol.” Ryuji said.

“You do realize that the Phantom has a bounty on his head that is worth over ten-thousand pieces of gold, right?” Futaba said from her seat, not getting up. “Can you imagine what we all could get with that kind of money?” She pointed out.

Everyone’s eyes widened in awe.

“I can finally get myself a proper leg brace and start running again!” Ryuji exclaimed. “Move! I gotta turn him in!” He said as he shoved everyone away.

“No, I need that money so I can go back and help Shiho out of her situation!” Ann said. “You move!”

“You all are so petty.” Hifumi said calmly as she got up and slipped past the squabbling Ann and Ryuji. “With this money I can finally support my sick father and maybe be able to play Shogi for honest reasons now.”

“You ARE a wanted criminal who needs to atone for his crimes.” Makoto said to Joker. “That in and of itself is reason enough to turn you in.” She added. “But maybe this money could help me reconcile with my sister.”

“Forget all of this.” Iwai huffed. “You all are just kids with no real problems. I can finally have enough money to pay off the bounty hunter trying to kill me and my son.”

“But my café…” Haru said softly as she watched everyone fight and argue over Joker as Ryuji and Ann started taking Joker by either arm and pulling him in opposite directions. “If I use that money, I could start up a café of my own without having to rely on Father’s money or my creepy fiancé.” Haru continued.

All of this fighting and arguing was too much for Yusuke. All he wanted was a simple meal to fill his belly before he headed off on the long journey and now his only guide was at a risk of being turned in because he was apparently a wanted criminal. Could he really not get what he wanted, even once in his life?

Taking out the frying pan from his bag, Yusuke aggressively whacked it against the wall, sending a loud clanging noise ringing through the Café. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to face Yusuke.

“EVERYONE LISTEN TO ME, PLEASE!” He shouted, suddenly feeling out of breath from how nervous he felt from having all these rough-looking people turning their attention to him. “I do not know where I am, In fact I don’t even know who HE is, but I NEED him as my guide to take me to go see the lights.” He pleaded as he pointed to Joker. “They’ve been shining every year on my birthday and it has been my dream to see them for as long as I could remember when I was trapped in the tower for the last 18 years. I know you all have dreams of your own, I’m sure. So please find your humanity and remember yours and respect mine.” He said.

There was a deafening silence that fell over the Café as everyone processed what Yusuke had just said. Then, Ann and Ryuji let go of Joker and sheepishly headed back to their seats as Mishima, Hifumi, and Makoto did the same. No longer being all but pulled apart by Ann and Ryuji, Joker quickly hurried back to his seat next to Yusuke. The only one who remained was Iwai, who was all but glaring holes in to both Yusuke and Joker.

“You’re right.” Ryuji said. “Sorry about that, man.” He said. “I guess I got so carried away by the possibility I might be able to run and be a part of the King’s athletic team even after my injury that I was willing to throw away some guy’s dream and turn in someone without hearing them out.”

“Yeah.” Ann sighed. “I may have left my situation with Lord Kamoshida but Shiho is still there.” She said. “I know she is strong, so just a little longer and I will have what I need to be able to come back and get her so she no longer has to work for him.” She turned to Joker and Yusuke. “I’m sorry. I let myself be carried away for a while.”

“As for my sister…” Makoto said. “Even if I did have the money to be able to help support her, I don’t know where she is anymore but I just know she is working hard wherever she is. And I must keep up my mercenary work until I can find her again and I won’t stop until I’m the fiercest horse rider in the land.” She added. “And no amount of money would help me reach that goal all by itself.”

“Me being the undefeated Shogi champion could still earn me money through betting pools alone. And that’s not considering all who pay to try to see if they can beat me.” Hifumi mused. “I just need to find a way out of this somewhat shady and stressful situation but if I can strategize my way through a shogi session, and then with a bit of thought, maybe I can strategize my way out of this situation as well.”

“Yeah, If I can leave somewhere that isn’t my house or the café, that will be a miracle.” Futaba said. “The world out there is dangerous as heck though, so good luck with that.” She said as she tore out a page of her book and crumpled it.

“I’m already apprenticing here at the café.” Haru mused. “That’s already one step in the right direction for me to start up my own café free from any financial ties to my father or my creepy fiancé that he keeps setting me up with.” She said. “Really, being a noble isn’t all it’s made out to be.” She sighed.

“If there is anything you want me to do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.” Mishima piped up as he turned his attention towards Joker. “It would be an absolute honor to work for you.”

“So while all you kids got your little sunshine and happiness dreams you can work on,” Iwai huffed. “I still have a hired hitman from my ex-gang out to kill me and my son so We both had to go into hiding. And there’s nothing I can do to change that unless I pay up.”

“Well,” Sojiro said as he stopped wiping the counter down. “You and your son are welcome to seek shelter and asylum here for as long as you want to, you know.” He said. “I know it may not be the most permanent solution, But I know you’re working quite a few jobs to save up for that money.”

“I’m grateful.” Iwai said as he sat down.

“Hey listen.” Joker said as he turned to Iwai. “I know this may sound shady but from one guy on the run to another, how about we make a deal.” He said. “After I’m done with my promise to Yusuke to take him to the lights, I can come back and maybe strike up a deal since umm, not to brag but I’ll probably make a lot from my next heist.”

Iwai chuckled. “You’d do that for me kid?” He said. “I don’t believe you.” He cleared his throat. “Besides, what’s a bright-eyed looking kid like you doing stealing shit and all that? What about your dream?”

Joker held up his hands in a shielding gesture. “Oh no. I am not about to spill my hopes and dreams to just about anybody. They sound kind of embarrassing compared to everyone else’s anyway.” He said.

“Come on man…” Ryuji whined. “You can’t have tell all of ours and not share yours.”

“Fine.” Akira said. “I mean, I got dreams, but they’re mostly just stuff involving me being well-rested, alone, and ridiculously wealthy.”

There was a pause from everyone.

“Well, there it is!” Akira said. “I don’t know what you guys were expecting but why were you thinking I became a thief!”

“Do you have a point.” Ann said.

“So I guess at the end of the day we’re not all that different.” Ryuji said as he stretched his arms. “We’ve all got dreams and goals that drive us. That’s pretty cool, you know.”

Sojiro just shook his head as he ladled out some curry into a bowl. “Kids these days. Their dreams sure can be something. At least I can turn a blind eye and just say I serve coffee to people for a living in case things go wrong.” He said. “Here!” He called to Yusuke and Joker.  “Your curry is ready.”

Yusuke hurried over and grabbed the food as everyone settled back into their seats, the mood much calmer and spirits much higher.

Well, for his first time meeting a group of people outside of the tower, this wasn’t so bad, in fact it could have gone a lot worse.

Smiling, he finally tucked into his first proper meal in days, savoring the delicious blend of spices, meat, vegetables, and rice as he regarded the atmosphere, taking it all in to finish his sketch later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look forward to the next chapter for some action scenes! I'll be busy for the next month and a half due to school, travel, and con crunch, but I'll update whenever I can! 
> 
> Until next time~!


	6. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys escape from multiple tight situations.

Madarame had been walking for at most an hour when he had realized that something was wrong. Not just that something was wrong, but that something was GRAVELY wrong.

He had been tipped off about this when he had been walking through the forest and heard a boyish-sounding voice speaking.

"Of all the times to be separated from Akira, it just HAD to be this one, didn't it?" The voice had said in frustration.

Madarame froze in his tracks As he tried to make sense of what he was hearing. Stepping closer toward the source of the voice, Madarame moved aside the tree branch in his line of sight and found black-and-white horse pacing agitatedly around a small clearing. Oddly enough though, despite hearing a human-sounding voice, Madarame couldn't see any sign of anybody else in the clearing.

Curious, Madarame pushed past the branches and slowly walked into the clearing. Hearing the rustling of the tree branches announcing a new presence, the horse stopped in its tracks and abruptly turned to look at Madarame.

With the horse's attention turned towards him, Madarame gently stepped forward to get a better look, noticing the yellow scarf tied around its neck.

"You clearly have a rider." Madarame said, looking the horse in the eye. "I heard them. Where are they?"

Before Madarame could ask more, the feeling of fear started seeping into his heart.

"Yusuke." He said in realization. "He's still alone."

Turning, Madarame dashed out of the clearing and ran back in the direction he came from. At this point, he wasn't thinking, his feet were moving on their own. There was only one thing on his mind, and that was to ensure that Yusuke was right where he had left him.

Pushing wildly through trees and bushes and rapidly wading through creeks, Madarame didn't stop, he could feel his bones creaking and his muscles aching but despite the amount of pain he was starting to feel, he knew he'd be in infinitely more pain if he lost his flower.

Soon enough, he arrived back at the base of the tower.

"YUSUKE!" He shouted, just barely catching his breath. "Let down your hair!"

There was no answer.

The fear that Madarame had felt in the clearing increased tenfold with every passing second. He didn't want to think about the possibility that the worst had happened. Surely Yusuke was still there, maybe he was absorbed in painting his latest work and couldn't hear him, or he's taking a nap. But he was still in the tower. He had to be.

"Yusuke!" He shouted again.

Still no answer.

Frantically, Madarame rushed to the side of the tower and started scrabbling at a pile of rocks at the siding of the tower, loosening every stone until a sizeable hole revealed a hidden staircase that he hadn't seen for almost eighteen years. Wasting no time, Madarame ran up the stairs and burst through the trap door that he had hidden under a carpet. Throwing the cloth off of him, Madarame stood up. The tower looked strangely dark, despite all the windows open, and the beginnings of dust motes started floating in the air as he frantically looked around.

“Yusuke!” Madarame shouted again.

And still no answer.

Madarame anxiously looked around the room until his eye caught the glint of something reflecting the incoming sunlight under the bottom-most stair step of the stairs leading up to Yusuke’s  room.

Walking over, Madarame crouched down and pulled out the object, finding a tan leather satchel with a glittering diadem almost falling out of it. He reached further and found a black-and-white mask. Noticing a piece of paper under the mask, Madarame reached in and pulled it out, unfolding the sheet until he was face-to-face with an artist rendering of someone’s face. Not just any face in fact, but as the wanted poster’s text said, the face of the legendary phantom thief, The Phantom.

Putting two and two together of what happened, Madarame stood up, placing the poster and the diadem back into the satchel and slinging it around his shoulder. He quickly headed back to the trap door and promptly headed down the stairs.

He had a thief and a lost captive to catch.

~~~~~

After being served his food, Yusuke found he was having quite an enjoyable time in the café. He and Joker chatted idly with the café’s patrons while he also occasionally made note of details in his surroundings to draw later. He had lost track of time and how long he and Joker had spent in the café a while ago, but he didn’t seem to mind as he found everyone’s company quite pleasant once he got used to their initial rowdiness.

That however, couldn’t last forever.

It was right when Yusuke was noticing Haru glancing occasionally at Makoto and watching her cheeks turn a light pink before quickly turning back to her work whenever Makoto looked up that he heard the door slam open.

Yusuke turned his head abruptly to look at the source of the noise when he saw Iwai run in.

“IT’S THE FUZZ!” He shouted, barely even panting as he quickly closed the door behind him. “I think they sniffed out Joker’s whereabouts.”

Joker stood up abruptly from his seat.  “How did they find out so soon?” He demanded.

“They got dogs and brown-haired guy in shackles giving them directions.” Iwai said, shaking his head. “At my estimate, they’ll be here in three minutes.”

“God dammit Akechi!” Joker said frustratedly. He turned to Yusuke. “We need to get out of here.”

“Follow me.”  Haru said, setting down her dishrag and rifling through her apron pockets until she pulled out a brass key before gesturing for Joker and Yusuke towards her direction.

Yusuke and Joker walked around the counter to find Haru crouching down and moving crates aside until a trap door was revealed, in which Haru unlocked before she motioned for Yusuke and Joker to get in, the two following her prompting.

“We normally use this for the purpose of storage.””Haru explained. “But it’s actually an underground tunnel that will lead away from here. There are oil lamps and matches down there, so don’t worry about not being able to see.”

The sound of horses and clanking armor started becoming more audible. Haru looked up with a nervous expression on her face.

“Go!” She whispered urgently. “I can’t guide you, but I trust you all will be fine.””

“Thank you.”  Yusuke said gratefully.

Haru nodded before she closed the door and the sound of wood-on-wood scuffling was heard as Haru moved the crates back on top of the trap door, plunging the two into darkness.

Thankfully, the darkness did not last long for the two of them as Joker found an oil lamp and lit it, bathing the damp, musty-smelling tunnel with an orange glow.

Together, the both started walking along the tunnel’s path.

~~~~~

While Akira and Yusuke were walking through the tunnel, an entirely different scene was playing out in the café.

As Ryuji watched the chaos unfold as Haru led Joker and Yusuke to the secret passage, he felt Ann nudge him in the side.

“Don’t say anything suspicious when the guards get here.” She hissed.

“I won’t!” Ryuji whispered back.  “Jeez have a little faith me, will ya?””

At that moment, the doors burst open as a crowd of armored men clambered through the doorway.

"Where is he?" The gruff-sounding guard said. "Where is the Phantom?"

"Well," A brown-haired boy in shackles said as he was lead into the cafe by a bunch of guards said. "All signs like footprints and the need for covert location indiscriminate about its clientele would lead me to believe Joker must have at least paid this establishment a brief visit."

"Well then, Ace Detective." The guard captain snarled. "Where is he, Akechi? Are you covering for your accomplice?"

"Ex-accomplice." Akechi corrected. "My, you are quite impatient. Joker is more clever than you think. If anything, he'd be in hiding."

"Search the grounds, leave NOTHING untouched." The captain said. His entire team started their search, turning tables upside down, moving dishes and cutlery, and pulling apart curtains as they did so.

Ryuji instantly felt one of the guards grab him by the wrist and roughly yank him out of his seat.

"Hey! Watch it!" Ryuji exclaimed in alarm. He wrenched his hand out of the guard’s arm.

"W-wait!" Sojiro said. "Do you have a search warrant?"

"Every house and establishment is up for search if you are looking for a wanted criminal who is currently at large." The captain said. "If you have nothing to hide, then there's nothing to worry."

“I found something!” A guard shouted. Two more guards rushed over and the sound of the trap door opening filled the room.

“It’s a trap door leading out to a tunnel, Sir!” One of the guards said.

The captain turned to Sojiro once more.

“Do you know the punishment for harboring a wanted criminal?” The guard said.

“Hey!” Ryuji shouted, jumping and running in front of Sojiro. “Leave him alone!”

“Be quiet!” Guard said, knocking Ryuji out of the way. The guard then turned to face Sojiro again. “We’ll deal with you later.” He said. “For now, let’s follow the Phantom before he gets away.” He started heading in the direction of the trap door before he turned to a skinny-looking guard in charge of the brown-haired prisoner.

“You.” The Captain said. “You’re in charge of watching over Akechi while we do our search.”

“Yes sir!” The guard said, saluting as he did so until the captain turned and left, at which point the guard started almost withering under Akechi’s glare until the guard quickly hurried after the captain.

As soon as the last of the guards filed through the trap door, Ryuji heard Sojiro sigh exasperatedly as he looked at the trashed remains of his café.

“All I wanted was to run a café. Not get wound up in this mess.” He grumbled. He picked up a broom and started sweeping up. “Haru! Futaba! Come help me!”

“Of course, Sojiro!” Haru said as she picked up her dishrag.

While the other café patrons started helping Sojiro clean up, Ryuji decided he was going to go take care of the rapidly-growing urgent state of his bladder.

As soon as he stepped outside, he instantly felt someone forcibly pin his wrists together and to his back before the cold, sharp edge of a knife was gently pressed against his throat.

“I saw everything through that window.” He heard a middle-aged man’s voice say. “Tell me, where does that tunnel lead out to?”

“I don’t know.” Ryuji said. “And even if I did, I ain’t telling you a damn thing, you’ll have to go find the Phantom yourself if you wanna see him that badly.”

Ryuji felt the knife press slightly firmer against his skin. Damn, he wish he could at least see who was threatening him.

“Oh really now?” The mysterious man said. “Are you sure about that?”

“Dude! I didn’t even know about that tunnel until less than 5 minutes ago!” Ryuji said exasperatedly. “I just came out here to take a leak, alright?”

“Hmph.” The man huffed in distaste, removing the knife as he did so. “You seem to be telling the truth, so I’ll let you go.” He said.

“Geez, it took you long enough.” Ryuji said, gingerly feeling his neck as he turned to look at his almost-assailant. The man was middle aged, with salt-and-pepper hair tied into a topknot and dressed in a traveling cloak. Not what Ryuji expected, but he didn’t give a damn so long as he was safe.

The man turned, and swiftly crept inside through the open window.

Finally alone, Ryuji sighed. He had left to go use the outhouse but judging from the state of his pants, he figured that technically wouldn’t be necessary anymore. Grumbling in frustration, he started looking around for what he could use to clean himself up with.

~~~~~

Joker and Yusuke had been making some considerable distance through the tunnel in silence when Joker finally spoke up.

“Well,” He said, clearing his throat to make small talk. “I didn’t know you had it in you back there.” He said. “That was pretty impressive. Nice job.”

“I Know!” Yusuke said excitedly, smiling broadly as he did. Realizing the extent of his enthusiasm, he bashfully looked away. “I know.” He said again, more calmly. “Thank you.”

A silence started falling on the two again until this time Yusuke broke it.

“So… Joker, Where are you from, if I may ask?” He inquired.

Joker put his hands up defensively.

“Oh no.” He said. “No no. I don’t do backstory. Sorry, Blue.” He added. “However, I am becoming increasingly more interested in yours.” He pointed out.

Yusuke tilted his head in curiosity.

“So I know I’m not supposed to ask about your teacher.” Joker said.

Yusuke shook his head. “That would be wise not to.” He noted.

“And I’m definitely not supposed to ask about the hair.” Joker added.

“Also a wise decision.” Yusuke added.

“But my question is….” Joker began. “If you wanted to see the lights in person so much, why didn’t you go to see them earlier?”

“Oh….” Yusuke said. “I mean… That is….”

Before he could say more, Yusuke felt the ground under him shake, noticing some pebbles bounce up and down on the ground.

Joker, also noticing this, gently grabbed Yusuke by the shoulders and pushed him along.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Joker said.

“We have you now, Phantom!” The two heard the guard captain’s voice echo through the tunnel as the sound of clanking armor and footsteps got increasingly louder.

“Run!” Joker said.

Yusuke bent down and quickly gathered up his hair into his arms before he too, started running after Joker until he found the two of them in front of a high cliff overlooking a dam, brightly illuminated by the sun’s light on the sandy-colored rock.

Looking over the edge, Yusuke spotted a person with brown hair and shackles that looked like they had been broken.

“Who is that?” He asked Joker.

“He doesn’t like me!” Joker said quickly, looking for a way out of this situation.

The sound of footsteps and clanking metal was heard from behind.

Alarmed, Yusuke turned around and saw a crowd of people burst out from the tunnel that Joker and Yusuke had just left.

“And who is THAT?” Yusuke asked even more urgently.

“They also don’t like me!”  Joker said. “Let’s just assume that everybody here doesn’t like me, alright?”

Yusuke handed his frying pan over to Joker before he quickly unfurled his hair and threw it at a beam overhead, lassoing it around the beam until he had formed a strong enough hold on it before he swung over to the cliff on the over side of the ravine.

Left alone, Joker nervously turned to the guard captain, who was drawing his sword and marching closer.

In a panic, Joker brandished his frying pan. The other guards rushed towards him with their swords drawn and without thinking, Joker started swinging his frying pan wildly, aiming for the head until everyone but the captain was knocked out. Turning to face the captain, Joker brandished the pan once more as the captain lunged towards him, dodging out of his way and parrying his blade as he did so,

“I hope you know this is the strangest thing I have ever done!” Joker shouted towards Yusuke, dodging the captain’s blade once more. However, the captain, upon noticing Joker’s distraction, took his opportunity to knock the pan out of Joker’s hand.

Joker watched the pan fly out of his hand and bounce against the top of a free-standing beam, knocking it over as it did so. Turning back to the Guard, who was now towering above him, he put his hands up defensively.

“How about we call it a draw?” Joker said.

“Joker!” Yusuke shouted. He threw his hair towards Joker, watching it wrap around his waist before he pulled him over the edge.

Joker clung to the length of Yusuke’s hair as he swung through the bottom of the ravine and right in the direction of a furious-looking Akechi, who drew his sword as Joker got closer and closer.

Curling his body into a smaller shape, Joker clung tight to the hair until he was about a foot away from Akechi’s face.

Taking his opportunity, Joker kicked Akechi in the face and knocked the sword out of his hand as he was about to swing it before he finally curled back and felt his trajectory take him upwards.

Looking back down at Akechi, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Wish you could see the look on your face right now because you look—” Joker’s would-be snarky comment was cut off as he hit a wooden board jutting out from the lower part of the dam wall.

“—Ridiculous…”  Joker wheezed before he fell to a more secure platform underneath the board.

Right at that moment, Yusuke noticed the guards on the cliff across from him waking up and starting to collectively knock over a wooden beam.  Joker turned to look at what had caught Yusuke’s attention and noticed the guards dislodge a wooden beam and use it as a bridge to cross to the other side. Taking action, Joker unwrapped the hair around his waist and held it firmly.

“Come on, Yusuke, just jump!” He shouted. “I’ve got you!”

Taking a deep breath, Yusuke jumped off the edge of the cliff, just in time to evade one of the guards grabbing for his hair.

Yusuke closed his eyes as he swung on his hair until his feet touched the ground and he let go.

Upon feeling Yusuke let go, Joker let go of Yusuke’s hair and ran to the aqueduct that was connected to the platform and slid down until he was finally on the ground.

Akechi, upon seeing Joker, instantly turned and started running toward him but at that moment, all the disruption and damage to the dam and aqueduct’s infrastructure took its toll, and the dam started to break, letting loose an enormous wave of water.

Joker and Yusuke wasted no time in running, searching for the nearest exit they could find: a cave at the edge of the ravine, hearing the roar of the water fill the air. Suddenly a crack was heard. Joker spared a glance behind him and saw a giant stone pillar get dislodged from the force of the water and then start to topple over.

The two picked up the pace, running until they entered the cave just as the pillar crashed down on the ground and blocked exit from the cave.

With barely any light and feeling the water rapidly pool around them up to their waists, Yusuke heard Joker take a deep breath and plunge into the water to start looking for an exit. Yusuke started to panic as he felt the water continue rising to his chest.

After a pause, Joker resurfaced, gasping for air.

“It’s no use!” He said. “I can’t find an exit.”

Hearing that news, Yusuke broke down crying out of exhaustion, exasperation, and heartbreak.

“This is all my fault.” Yusuke sniffled. “He was right. Disaster only comes if I leave the tower. I should *hic* never have left. I’m sorry, Joker.” He sobbed into his hands. Of course. Hhe was so stupid. Not only did he endanger himself, he endangered someone else’s life on top of that.

He heard Joker sigh a little bit. Then he took a breath.

“Akira.” Joker said gently.

“What?” Yusuke asked, puzzled, feeling the water rise to his neck now.

“My real name. It’s Akira Kurusu.” Joker said. “Somebody might as well know it.”

“Well then.” Yusuke said, trying to smile even though it was dark and Akira couldn’t see it. “Since you told me your secret, I have magic hair that glows when I sing.”

A silence fell over the two of them.

“Wait…” Yusuke said in realization. “I have magic hair that glows when I sing!”

Immediately he started singing.

“ _Flower gleam and glow, Let your powers shine…_ ” The water rose to cover Yusuke’s head.

Within a moment, the water was illuminated with a bright silvery glow.

Akira opened his eyes and was met with the sight of Yusuke with his hair glowing. Instinctively, he let out a yelp of surprise before he covered his mouth to stop himself from wasting more precious air.

He and Yusuke turned and looked around in the cave until he spotted a part below where Yusuke’s hair appeared to be sucked towards by some kind of vacuum. Seeing the opportunity, Akira and Yusuke swam to the rocks down below and started scrambling to remove them, Akira cutting the palm of his hand in the process but continuing to remove rocks until he reached his hand through the hole and felt air greet it on the other side.

Letting the force of the water rushing through the hole help him, Akira kicked gently at the rocks until they all dislodged and sent him and Yusuke spilling out the hole and into the creek below.

Swimming to shore, Akira quickly latched onto the first piece of land he could get ahold of and pulled himself up with a loud gasp as he took in some air and coughed water out of his lungs.

Beside him, Akira heard Yusuke cough water out of his lungs as well before he sighed in relief.

“We made it.” He said gratefully.

“His hair glows.” Akira said in realization.

Yusuke pulled himself up onto the grass and stood up before he reached into his satchel and pulled out his now-soggy and waterlogged sketchbook and sighed in disappointment before he tossed it to the ground.

“Why does his hair glow?” Akira asked again in panic. “Why does your hair glow?!?”

Yusuke chuckled. “It doesn’t JUST glow.” He said.

Akira looked at Yusuke in bewilderment, almost terrified to know what else it could do before he pulled himself up onto the grass and stood up as well.

He’ll ask later, but for now the both of them need to find somewhere to make camp for the night given the low position of the sun in the sky.

~~~~~

Meanwhile, as Yusuke and Akira were setting up camp, a very different scene was playing out in the woods behind Café LeBlanc.

As Madarame looked around for a way to open the trapdoor he had found hidden in the tree, he heard a strange noise come from inside the tunnel that the trapdoor was hiding.

Not wanting to be discovered, Madarame turned and hid in a nearby bush.

The trapdoor burst open, and out came a boy about Yusuke’s age, with damp shoulder-length brown hair that clung to his scalp, two unchained shackles around his wrists, and a furious expression on his face.

“I’LL KILL THAT JOKER!” He shouted angrily. “I’LL CUT HIM OFF AT THE KINGDOM, STEAL THE TREASURE AND KILL HIM EVEN IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DO!” He spat. “Legendary Phantom? Don’t make me laugh, if not for that blue-haired boy, he would have died back there, just like he would have died without me.”

Madarame, hearing the boy’s spiel, realized he had a very good opportunity handed to him.

“Or…” Madarame said, emerging from the bushes. “How about instead of running around like a headless chicken, you calm down and think rationally.”

Instantly, the boy drew his sword, brandished it, and turned towards Madarame.

“Oh come now.” Madarame said. “There is no need for that.” He said. “Here.”

Madarame tossed the tan satchel he had been carrying towards the boy. The boy opened the satchel and took out the diadem, looking at it in wonder, disbelief, and bewilderment.

“How did you—” He began to ask.

“That’s not important.” Madarame said. “But if that’s all you wanted, I’d best be on my way.” He said. “I was going to offer you something worth ten thousand of those and that wasn’t even the best part but oh well. Such is life. Enjoy your crown.” He turned and started walking away.

“Of course that’s not all I want.” The boy said. “What is the best part?”

Madarame smiled. That’s more like it. He turned and looked back at the boy.

“You’ll get your revenge on Joker.” He said.

A light flashed in the boy’s eyes and instantly he started talking.

“Tell me more…”

~~~~~

After Akira and Yusuke set up camp Yusuke took Akira to sit and warm up by the fire as he inspected the cut on Akira’s hand before gently wrapping his hair around it in silence.

“So…” Akira said nervously. “You’re being strangely cryptic as you wrap your magic glowing hair around my injured hand.” He said. He suddenly felt a bit of hair cut in too deep into the cut. “Ahh!” He exclaimed, almost instinctually pulling his hand away.

“Please do not be alarmed.” Yusuke said. He sighed, then took a deep breath and started to sing.

_Flower gleam and glow,_

_L_ _et your power shine,_

_Make the clock reverse,_

_Bring back what once was mine,_

Yusuke’s hair once again started to glow bright silver, and it took everything Akira had not to suddenly freak out over the hair once more, focusing instead to look at the glowing hair wrapped around his hand as the strange sensation of his skin almost being knit back together was felt through the hair. His skin felt warm. So warm he wanted to put it on Yusuke’s face so he could cool it (and maybe feel Yusuke’s skin too, although Akira quickly squashed that thought before it could manifest further).

_Heal what has been hurt,_

_Change the fates' design_

_Save what has been lost,_

_A_ _nd Bring back what once was mine,_

_What once was mine._

As the last of the glow died down, Akira stared at Yusuke before Yusuke’s face turned a light pink out of embarrassment and started quickly unwrapping his hair from around Akira’s hand, revealing the skin of Akira’s palm to be smooth, soft, and with barely any hint of the cut that had been there less than a minute ago.

He stared wide-eyed at his hand before he looked up at Yusuke and felt a scream of terror build up inside his throat.

“Please don’t scared.” Yusuke said, as if noticing Akira’s intent. Akira stared at Yusuke with his mouth wide open.

“I…. I’m not freaking out.” Akira said defensively, regaining his composure. “I am just…. Very interested in your magical glowing healing hair and have got a lot of questions about it and its magical properties.” He said, breathing slowly to keep his tone steady. “How long has it been doing that?”

“For as long as I could remember.” Yusuke said, getting up to sit next to Akira on the log. “Sensei told me that when I was a baby, people tried to cut it for its properties, but when they did, it stopped growing and the cut end turned to ash.” He said. He reached into his hair and pulled out a lock that was noticeably shorter than the rest of his hair, reaching down to about his eyebrows in length and held it up for Akira to see.

“But the thing is,” Yusuke continued. “Is that a gift like that needed to be cherished and protected. And that’s why Sensei….” He said. The words stopped on their way out of his mouth. It was so difficult to acknowledge. “That’s why Sensei….”

“That’s why you never left that tower.” Akira said, putting two and two together and finishing Yusuke’s sentence.

Yusuke nodded. 

“And you’re still gonna go back?!?” Akira said in bewilderment. “After all that?!?” He asked.

“No!” He answered. Then he realized what he meant. “I mean, yes.” He corrected himself. “I mean….” Yusuke nervously looked back down at the ground. He really didn’t want to acknowledge this at all. “It’s very complicated.” He said. He then sighed.

"Sensei is the closest thing I have to a father figure." Yusuke explained. "He took me in and raised me out of the kindness of his heart. I know he doesn't sound like the perfect parent, but he's all I have. I owe it to him to take care of him and keep painting portraits for him to sell at the market under his own name so that we can put food on the table."

"He doesn't even give you recognition and credit for your work?" Akira asked in shock. "But that hardly doesn't even seem right at all. If you can't even go outside you should at least have that!" 

Yusuke shook his head. "Like I said, it's quite complicated, and I'm not quite sure it's right for me to burden you with my problems more than I already have."

"Okay." Akira said quietly. "I'll respect your space."

An awkward pause filled fth air. Yusuke desperstely wanted to change the subject. He wanted to know more about his mysterious travel companion.

“So…” Yusuke said. “Akira Kurusu… I told you my backstory.” He said. “What about yours?”

“Oh no.” Akira said bashfully, turning to look away from Yusuke in embarrassment. “You don’t want to know the boring sob story of little orphan Akira.” He said.

Yusuke moved closer to Akira. “I actually do.” He said, smiling earnestly.

Akira couldn’t help but chuckle. Damn, that smile is so infectious, it was almost adorable.

“Well…” He began. “I never knew my parents growing up. All my life I lived in an orphanage. And there was this one book I used to read to all the kids in the orphanage and it would always keep me going. ‘The Tales of Arsene Lupin’, It was called. Clever phantom thief, master of disguise, dashing good looks, rich beyond belief, and not all that bad with the ladies too.” He said. “Not that he’d ever brag about it.”

“He sounds quite intriguing.” Yusuke said.

“He does.” Akira agreed. “He could be anything he wanted, do anything he wanted, go anywhere he wanted, and to a guy like me who had nothing…” Akira explained, his cheeks turning pink from all the attention Yusuke was giving him and his frankly, embarrassing story. “He was like my hero. I wanted to be him.”

“I see.” Yusuke said understandingly. “But what about the name ‘Joker’?”

“That was a name that one of my partners-in-crime gave me.” Akira said. “It was meant to reference the playing card that is drawn as a trump card in difficult situations.”

“I see now.” Yusuke said. “This is honestly quite eye-opening for me.” He said. “Thank you for sharing this with me.”

“Yeah well…” Akira said, shyly scratching the back of his head as he did so. “You can’t tell anyone about this, alright?” He said. “It could ruin my whole reputation.”

“Of course.” Yusuke said teasingly. “We wouldn’t want that now, would we?”

“Hey, a fake reputation is all a man’s got in this day and age.” Akira said, chuckling. He heard fire crackle and turned to see the last embers of the fire start to die out.

“I better go get some more firewood.” He said, quickly excusing himself as he got up before he could possibly embarrass himself further in front of Yusuke.

“Okay.” Yusuke said. He watched Akira walk away from the camp until he was out of sight. At that moment, he heard the bushes rustle. “Oh and Akira?” He added.

Akira turned and looked back at Yusuke quizzically,

“I like Akira Kurusu much better than Joker.” He said.

Akira smiled warmly. “Well you’d be the first one to say that.” He said. The sound of the snapping fire prompted him into action. “Well, just give me a moment now.” He said, excusing himself again to go look for the firewood once more.

“Well.” A familiar male voice said from behind Yusuke. Yusuke almost jumped in shock. “I thought he’d NEVER leave.”

Yusuke turned around and stared in horror as he saw Madarame towering over him.

“S-Sensei!” Yusuke exclaimed, scrambling to stand up so he could stand eye-to-eye with his teacher.

“Hello Yusuke.” Madarame said.

“B-but how did you find me?” Yusuke asked, panicking as he backed away from Madarame.

“It was easy, really.” Madarame said, following Yusuke. “I just listened to the sound of complete and utter betrayal and followed that.”

“Sensei…” Yusuke sighed.

“We are going back now.” Madarame said, grabbing Yusuke’s wrist.

“But Sensei!” Yusuke said. “You don’t understand. This has been an incredible journey for me so far and I have learned so much.” He said. A hint of a shy smile crossed his lips. “I even met someone.”

“Yes, the wanted thief. I’m so proud.” Madarame said dismissively as he tugged on Yusuke’s wrist. “Let’s go.”

“B-but Sensei wait.” He said urgently. He didn’t want to go back. Not now. “I… Even think he likes me. I mean, I have no explicit proof, but I do think he likes me, he smiles fondly at me the same way the lovers in my old stories would do at each other. And I feel the same way too.”

“You? You think that he likes you?” Madarame said mockingly. “Don’t be ridiculous, why would he like you?” He asked. “See, this was why you should never have left. You starting an imaginary romance with the first stranger you see just PROVES that you are too naïve to be here.” He said. “Just why would he like you? Do you honestly think he’s impressed?” Madarame chuckled. “Don’t be stupid. Come with me.”

“No!” Yusuke said firmly, pulling his wrist out of Madarame’s grasp.

“No?” Madarame repeated, turning to face Yusuke. His eyes narrowed. “I see how it is.”

He stepped closer to Yusuke until Yusuke could feel Madarame’s hot breath on his face,

“So Yusuke thinks he knows best? That he’s so mature now? So clever, so mature, so grown-up I’m sure.” He spat. “If you are so sure about that, put him to the test and give him this!”

Madarame pulled out the tan leather satchel.

“The satchel!” Yusuke exclaimed, stepping back in alarm. “How did you—”

“Don’t let him deceive you, Yusuke.” Madarame said, pulling the crown out and tossing it to Yusuke. “This is why he’s here. Give it to him I dare you. Just watch and you’ll see that he’ll leave you just like that.” He snapped his fingers for emphasis.

“I will give it to him!” Yusuke said. “I will give it to him and you’ll see that he won’t leave me.”

“Fine.” Madarame said. “But if he’s lying, don’t you dare come crying back to me.” He said. “After all…” He said. “I do know best.” And with that, he drew his cloak’s hood over his head and headed back into the darkness of the brush, just in time for Akira to come back.

“Hey so…” Akira’s lighthearted tone filled the air. “Is there any chance that I’ll get super-strength in my hand because that would be AMAZING to have on top of my other phantom thief credentials.” He said.

He stopped when he noticed the almost-dejected look on Yusuke’s face.

“Is everything alright?” Akira asked gently.

Yusuke forced a smile back on his face as he hid the satchel.

“Oh… yeah.” Yusuke said. “I was just lost in thought.”

“Well, if you ever need to talk about something heavy to get off your chest, just let me know, okay?” Akira said as he dropped a couple tree branches into the fire and started poking around at the embers with a stick, rekindling the fire as he did so.

“Thank you.” Yusuke said as he sat back down on the log and watched Akira kindle the fire.

~~~~~

As Akira and Yusuke made small talk and cooked some food over the fire, Madarame and Akechi watched from the bushes around the camp.

“Patience.” Madarame said to Akechi. “Good things do come to those who wait.”

And with that, the two slipped away to carry out the next part of their plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M FINALLY BACK SWEET JESUS HALLELUJAH. This took way too long to write due to real-life stuff (also Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, BNHA, Persona 2, and P5 NG+, and Fire Emblem Awakening Cosplay) and the fact that I'm gearing up to publish a date-themed Shukita Zine with my friend Ouji-draws on tumblr! (zine project link is here: http://syhshukitazine.tumblr.com) as well as started work on my entry into the Shukita big bang!)
> 
> All in all the next 3 months are looking busy but hopefully I can manage to publish this work every other week or so provided I don't have any other school commitments that are needed to be done. I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter though (anyone who knows the movie knows what's gonna happen) and honestly I can't wait. 
> 
> Also side note: IDK about Tomokazu Sugita's singing abilities but I know in English that Yusuke would canonically have a good singing voice especially considering Matt Mercer voiced Shigure from fire emblem fates and anyone who heard the song that he sings knows what i'm talking about so if you imagine that singing the healing incantation song you are good to go. 
> 
> See you all next chapter!


	7. The Kingdom and Lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys enjoy a day of festivities and the lights

The first thing that greeted Akira when he woke up the next morning was the sound of birds chirping cheerfully.

The second thing that woke him up was the feeling of dewdrops rolling off the leaves of the trees towering over him and onto his skin.

The third and by far strangest thing that greeted him as he awoke was a feeling of warmth. It was a comforting warmth, and in all honesty, it made Akira feel like going back to sleep. Maybe he can sleep in for a little longer. Fifteen minutes longer couldn’t hurt.

Akira then tried to lie still and fall back into the comfort of the warmth that surrounded him. That is until he felt something move against his chest. Akira froze as he felt the thing move again. The movement wasn’t forceful by any means. In fact it was very gentle and soft.

Finally letting curiosity get the better of him, Akira finally cracked open his eyes to see Yusuke bundled up in his arms, his face peaceful as he slept soundly. Akira had to swallow his yelp of surprise at seeing Yusuke huddled so close to him, he looked so calm and vulnerable with his long strands of hair wrapped gently around the shape of his body. Akira felt almost bad for even so much as waking up, because as soon as he was awake he knew he’d need to move.

Glancing around at his surroundings, Akira noticed that the fire that he and Yusuke had started yesterday had died out. The sky was bright enough that Akira could see, but it was only just starting to brighten into a rainbow of pastel colors from the sunrise. The soft lighting gently highlighted the blue of Yusuke’s hair and his sleepy features. Akira wondered just HOW he had ended up holding Yusuke in his arms and cuddling with him, but he figured it might have had something to do with how cold both him and Yusuke felt last night especially after swimming in that cold creek.

At that moment, Yusuke finally stirred, sleepily blinking his eyes open to look up at Akira.

“Good morning.” Akira said gently, barely able to contain a soft smile as he did so.

“Good morning.” Yusuke responded, gently sitting up and rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand with one hand as he used his other hand to cover his yawn that stretched across his blushing face. The cute image was interrupted by a loud grumbling sound, prompting Yusuke to abruptly put his hand on his stomach and flush embarrassedly.

“P-please forgive me.” Yusuke said, trying to contain his stammer.

Akira just laughed. “Are you hungry?” He asked gently.

Yusuke nodded. “I am.” He answered. “Starving, in fact.”

“Come on.” Akira said, standing up and offering his hand out to Yusuke, who accepted it as he was helped to his feet. “Let’s go find some food to eat.”

Before Yusuke could ask more, he heard a loud rustling sound from the bushes.

Yusuke froze, remembering how Madarame had found him last night and starting to feel fear overtake his heart.

“W-What is th-that??” Yusuke stammered, looking towards the bush as it started shaking more.

At that moment, a small, black-and-white figure burst from the bush and leaped directly at Akira.

“AKIRA!!!!” A loud, boyish-sounding voice rang through the air as the creature, which upon closer inspection looked like a cat, flew and landed on Akira.

“OW!” Akira exclaimed in shock and pain as he instinctually swatted the air as the creature landed on him.

“I finally found you!” The creature said.

“Morgana??” Akira asked, puzzled. “You’re alive??”

“I could ask you the same, Akira—” The cat stopped talking as it saw Yusuke hiding behind Akira. “I mean ‘Joker’. I mean…. Meowww.” The cat stammered, trying to gain some composure and forced out a very fake “Meow”.

Akira chuckled and shook his head as he gently plucked Morgana from his front and gently set the feline down on the ground. “It’s alright, Morgana.” Akira said gently. “He knows my secret.”

“Wait you mean he knows that you’re—”

“The legendary Phantom Thief and that my name is Akira Kurusu?” Akira finished Morgana’s question. “Yes he does.”

“Why are you hanging out with this guy?” Morgana hissed. “And what about the crown??? Don’t tell me you ditched our mission just so you could pick up some prettyboy instead.”

“It’s a long story.” Akira whispered back.

“Um, Akira, if I may ask.” Yusuke gently cut into the conversation. “But what is that?”

“Oh, Morgana?” Akira asked. “They’re my partner-in-crime. And a cat.”

“But it’s talking.” Yusuke said, confusion lacing his voice.

“And you have magic hair that glows when you sing.” Akira pointed out.

“I’m not just any ordinary cat either.” Morgana said, flicking their tail with pride. “I’m a shapeshifter.” As if to demonstrate, Morgana turned into a horse in the blink of an eye.

Yusuke jumped back in alarm at seeing the cat turn into something much larger that also occupied his own personal space. Once he had calmed down, he stepped closer to Morgana to take a look at them.

“This is simply magnificent!” Yusuke exclaimed in admiration. “Truly a feat of nature.”

“Thank you!” Morgana said proudly. His expression fell almost instantly once he realized something. “I’m just bitter that I lost my ability to transform into a human though.”

“Regardless, I must draw you and your transformation!” Yusuke exclaimed. He instinctively reached into his satchel only to find that his sketchbook was gone, reminding him of how he had to throw it out the night before due to it being waterlogged. He instantly pouted in disappointment.

“What’s wrong?” Akira asked in concern, noticing Yusuke’s expression.

“My sketchbook was damaged when we were trapped in that flooding cave.” Yusuke said.

“Oh yeah.” Akira said, remembering the event from yesterday. “My disguise glasses were lost in the flooded cave too.”

At that moment, Yusuke’s stomach growled loudly, as if reminding him of his previous predicament. “And I still haven’t eaten.” He added.

“We really do need to find some breakfast.” Akira agreed.

“Well, good thing you guys got a horse now. And that civilization is about an hour away on horseback!” Morgana exclaimed. “Hop on!”

Akira and Yusuke didn’t need to be told twice. After Akira climbed aboard Morgana with Yusuke gathering up his hair and climbing on behind him, Morgana set off at a steady trot towards the direction of the city that could be seen in the distance beyond the trees.

“In the meantime, until we get there,” Morgana said as they continued walking. “Akira, start talking and tell me what I missed since we got separated yesterday.”

~~~~~

True to Morgana’s word, the three of them arrived in the city within an hour, during which Akira filled Morgana in on the details of what had transpired the previous day while Yusuke filled in some explanations that Akira couldn’t.

Once Morgana reached the big stone bridge that led into the city that stood before them, they instantly stopped in their tracks, prompting Akira and Yusuke to hop off before Morgana transformed back into a cat.

“Sorry.” Morgana said. “You guys can walk the rest of the way. I tire faster in my horse form anyway so I’ll need to stay as a cat for a while.”

“Got it. Thanks, Morgana.” Akira said as he and Yusuke started walking over the bridge. Akira stopped by a nearby poster and instantly tore it down upon recognizing his face with (yet another) inaccurately-drawn nose.

As Akira tore down the poster and started ripping it to shreds, Yusuke walked on ahead across the bridge, bewitched by the sight of the city ahead with its cobbled streets, thatched roofs , and the soaring palace in the center of it all.

He stopped, however, once he reached the entrance to the city. The city had sounded busy from outside on the bridge but that did nothing to prepare him for how busy the city actually was.

The streets were alive with the hustle and bustle of people setting up booths, selling their wares, and interacting with their friends, neighbors, and customers. Colorful booths selling their wares lined the streets and every storefront had their doors open as the hawkers vocally advertised their wares and services. The smell of grilling meat, baking bread, tanning leather, and flowers filled the air as the stall owners continued making their wares.

Blue velvet banners with images of a white star-shaped flower rimmed with what looked like a round blue ruffle and a star-shaped center were hung up all around the streets, and strung over the streets from clotheslines hung between windows of thatched-roof houses, lofts, attics and stores facing each other. Minstrels playing lively tunes on their instruments walked in bands along the streets, taking coins as tips from those who appreciated their music as people danced merrily along. 

Overall, the city was alive. Alive and busy. And in a way, the fast-pacing of the life Yusuke saw before him would have been almost scary and overwhelming if he weren’t so mesmerized by all the color and movement before him. 

And most interesting out of all of it, the sheer number of people amazed Yusuke. People of all kinds of hair colors, eyes of different colors, people of different heights, weights, body types, facial expressions, age, and skin tone. All of them, diverse in their looks, all of them with individual backstories of their own, all of them capable of feeling anger, joy, sorrow, disappointment, and excitement all gathered today in the city to experience the joy of life. The miracle of living was so clear to Yusuke, just watching all these people and the beauty of their existence, was so thrilling and captivating. He didn’t notice when Akira finally caught up with him and moved to stand next to him. 

“Amazing, right?” Akira said enthusiastically. 

“It truly is.” Yusuke said. “So much is happening.” He continued. He turned to face Akira. “Does it ever slow down?” 

Akira shook his head. “Not really.” He admitted. “But you can. Come on.” He said. He gently laced his fingers with Yusuke’s before he started slowly walking ahead. “Let’s enjoy your first festival together.” He said. 

“That sounds good.” Yusuke agreed. His stomach growled once more, as if it were also in agreement.“And let’s get some food while we’re at it.” Yusuke said. 

“Get me some food too!” Morgana piped up, finally padding over and standing next to Akira. 

“Alright then.” Akira agreed. “Let’s do this.” 

~~~~~~

Akira, Yusuke, and Morgana had walked ahead for no longer than 5 minutes before they realized that Yusuke’s hair was causing quite a bit of trouble for both himself and everyone around him. 

As Yusuke walked along, he suddenly felt himself be stopped in his tracks and yanked backwards from the force of something stepping on his hair. Yusuke turned and saw someone step on his hair. Yusuke tugged on his hair, prompting the person to look down before looking towards Yusuke and backing off. This happened three more times until Yusuke decided that he had had enough and decided to walk back to gather his hair with Akira’s help. 

Once the hair was gathered, Yusuke and Akira looked around to see where they could sit down to figure out the hair problem. Spotting a group of school-aged girls sitting at the edge of a fountain and braiding each other’s hair, Akira instantly had an idea and quickly led Yusuke to the edge of the fountain until the girls looked up, and instantly gasped in awe and wonder. 

After that, Yusuke sat in front of the fountain as the team of girls braided his hair, grabbing thick locks and playing hopscotch around him as they twisted and wove his hair together, placing sweet-smelling flowers in his hair when appropriate as Akira watched, ducking for cover whenever a palace guard would walk past. After half an hour, the girls were done braiding, and Yusuke was finally allowed to stand. 

Standing up, Yusuke looked behind him and saw a long, thick braid woven with flowers that went down to his ankles. Gasping in wonder, Yusuke turned and bowed to the girls in appreciation and thanks before he turned to Akira. 

“What do you think?” He asked.

Akira smiled, a look of fondness shone in his eyes. “You look like a beautiful prince.” Akira said. “I love this look.” 

Yusuke felt his cheeks heat up at Akira’s praise as Morgana gave Akira a strangely-sly look before he turned towards the smell of baked bread wafting through the streets. 

Following the pleasant scent, Yusuke walked over to a stand that had a display of pastries, from jam-filled Danishes to cheese scones, little cupcakes, and sugar-topped buns full of custard. He felt his stomach grumble as his mouth started to water at the delicious display in front of him. From behind the stand, which stood in front of a bakery, the baker brought out a tray of piping-hot raisin buns and braided bread loaves. 

“Do you want to have that?” Yusuke heard Akira’s voice say from behind him. 

Yusuke turned and nodded. “It looks and smells delicious.” He commented. “I’m so famished, I feel like I could eat everything on the stand.”

Akira chuckled. “Let’s start with one bun and work our way from there.” He said. “What would you like?” 

Yusuke pointed to a custard bun, and after Akira ordered that and a cheese scone for himself and paid the vendor, Akira and Yusuke started walking along the street, snacking on their food as they went. 

“Akira, give me some fancy tuna while you’re at it!” Morgana demanded as they walked alongside Akira. 

“If I find some, Cat.” Akira said firmly. “This may be a seaside city but if tuna isn’t in season, I can’t do much. Would you be fine with Mackerel? Or cod?” 

Morgana sighed. “Yeah.” The feline said, flattening their ears against their head. “I’m starving so at this point any kind of fish would do.” 

“Alright.” Akira said, bending down to scratch behind Morgana’s ears before standing up. “Let’s get going.

While Akira and Morgana were talking, Yusuke got distracted once more by another stall, in which leather-bound books and woven tapestries and cloths were being sold. Walking towards it, Yusuke stopped in front of the stall and picked up a particularly pretty-looking leather book, with intricate, stitched lines and scrolling patterns that formed a tree all over the front of the book’s over. Flipping open the book, Yusuke found all the pages were empty and of a decent sturdy thickness, overall perfect for sketching in. 

He reached into his bag, hoping to at least find some money, but instead found none. 

Putting the sketchbook down and pouting, Yusuke turned around to head away from the stall to find Akira walking towards him. 

“What’s wrong?” Akira asked, noting the expression on Yusuke’s face. 

“I don’t have any money, and I found the most gorgeous sketchbook.” Yusuke said disappointedly. 

“Here.” Akira said, stepping forward and picking up the book that Yusuke had just put back before he took out his wallet. “Everything’s on me today.” 

Yusuke’s eyes widened. “A-are you sure???” He stammered. “Really, you don’t have to—”

“Come on.” Akira said, handing over some coins to the stall owner and taking the book before handing it to Yusuke. “You never got to have a proper birthday, so just enjoy today.” 

A broad smile spread across Yusuke’s face as he eagerly took the sketchbook. “Thank you!” He said excitedly. 

He instantly flipped open the sketchbook and grabbed a pencil from out of his bag and started fervently sketching his surroundings, glancing around at all the booths, stalls, storefronts, and banners that made up his surroundings as the outlines and shading of the scene before him started to materialize in the pages. 

Akira gently guided Yusuke by the arm and navigated him through the crowds until Yusuke finally put down his sketchbook to give his cramping hand a break. The two found themselves standing in front of a stall that sold an abundance of pretty necklaces, rings, and pendants. 

Mesmerized, Yusuke stepped closer to examine the stall’s wares, his gaze catching on a pretty white iridescent moonstone pendant carved in the shape of the moon flower symbol that adorned all the banners, with the star center inlaid out of orange iridescent opal with tiny red lobsters carved out of coral inside the star design. Intrigued, Yusuke picked up the pendant and held it up to the light, watching the way the sun’s rays shown through the cloudy white of the moonstone yet get reflected as a red-tinted rainbow sheen in the opal. 

“Oh you’re interested in that, are you?” The stall owner said. “That right there is a pendant carved with the crest of the Royal family. That moon flower saved our sick queen when she was pregnant with the Lost Prince, you see.”

“Lost Prince?” Yusuke asked, suddenly feeling a strange sense of déjà vu at hearing that term. 

“You must be new to these parts.” The shop owner said. “18 years to this day, Queen Sayuri gave birth to a beautiful baby boy after she almost died from a sickness during the pregnancy had we not found the rumored Moon Flower of Healing and turned it into medicine for her. Unfortunately, the next day, the infant was robbed from his cradle and the kingdom hasn’t seen nor heard from him ever since. Every year on his birthday, we hold a festival in his honor and end the day by having everyone in the kingdom release lanterns into the sky in the hopes that one day; he’ll come home to us.” 

Despite hearing the tale for the first time, Yusuke couldn’t help but feel a strange sort of familiarity upon hearing it. In a way, it almost made Yusuke uncomfortable, and he didn’t quite know why. The fact that he apparently shared his birthday with the Lost Prince didn’t seem to make matters that much better, but surely it just had to be some strange coincidence. 

Turning his attention back to the pendant to distract himself, he noticed the intricately-carved tiny lobsters in the center of the pendant once more. “What’s the story behind the lobsters?” Yusuke asked curiously. 

“Oh the lobsters?” The shopkeeper chuckled. “Those are the mythical protectors of the Royal Family. Long ago, our first king went to war with a neighboring kingdom and he got brutally injured in battle. He was about to end his stint with the living when a pair of giant lobsters crawled out of the ocean and onto the beach he was hurt and stranded on and started tending to his wounds with medicine from the sea and a little magic. To this day, if you or a loved one is sick and need a little miracle for healing, you pray to the lobsters like we all did when Queen Sayuri was sick.” 

This part of the story was also incredibly intriguing. All in all, the more Yusuke stared at the pendant and the history surrounding the emblem, the more attached to it he became. 

“Do you want that necklace?” Akira asked, finally piping up after staying silent to let the shopkeeper tell his tale. He really could be quite a mind reader in this time. 

Yusuke nodded. “If it’s alright…” He said. 

Akira laughed and put his hand on Yusuke’s shoulder. “Of course it’s alright.” He said. He turned to the stall owner and handed over a sum of money before the stall owner wrapped the necklace in a blue cloth adorned with the moon-flower symbol before handing it over to Akira with a tip of his hat. 

Akira turned to Yusuke, unwrapping the necklace as he did so. He held it up and undid the clasp and motioned for Yusuke to step closer. Yusuke complied and Akira stepped behind Yusuke and placed the necklace around his neck before he closed the clasp and let the pendant hang, nestling itself in the middle of Yusuke’s collarbones that could be visible in the gap in Yusuke’s shirt that had been left by keeping the top two buttons undone. 

Yusuke gently touched the necklace that now adorned his neck and turned back to Akira, beaming as he did so. 

“Thank you!” He exclaimed. 

“It looks really good on you.” Akira said. 

At that moment, Morgana started pawing at Akira’s leg. 

“Akira…” Morgana whined. “I want food.” 

“Oh right, I’m so sorry, Morgana.” Akira said, bending down to pick up Morgana, prompting a yowl of surprise from the feline. “Let’s get you some food.” 

As Akira and Morgana went over to the next stall to get some grilled fish, Yusuke took a look around once more at his surroundings. He found that he, Akira, and Morgana were in a large open square, where surprisingly, not a lot of people were walking through. Perhaps the city was experiencing a rare quiet moment of the day. His gaze landed on a large, colorful image on the side of a wall. 

Stepping closer out of curiosity, Yusuke found that he was staring at a mosaic image of what looked like a family; more specifically, a young couple holding a baby boy in their arms. The father was handsome, with sly, foxy-looking eyes, a strong jawline, and side-swept blue hair that reached the middle of his chin. The mother was very beautiful, clothed in a long, regal, red-and-gold dress and had long, black hair tied back into a neat, low ponytail that snaked over her shoulder, her gaze pure and loving as she gently held the infant in her arms as her husband had his arms gently wrapped around her waist. The baby had blue hair that was quite long for an infant, with soft grey eyes, a cute button nose, and a happy expression on his face. The entire family wore crowns, with the father wearing a large, golden crown inlaid with large sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and diamonds while the mother’s crown was more delicate, with silver filigree twisted into intricate curling designs that held small diamonds. The infant’s crown was big for his head, with it looking like it was almost sliding off but the details were still captured, with a crown that looked more sturdy than the mother’s, with upside-down teardrop-shaped opals, rubies, and sapphires inlaid in silver that were ringed in pearls. This had to be the Royal Family, Yusuke deduced, taking in the image and the quality of artistry behind the mosaic. 

He stepped closer to take a better look, overhearing a group of children that had gathered in front of the mosaic, bearing toys and flowers and placing it at the feet of the royal family. 

“This is for the Lost Prince!” One of the children informed the others before everyone else nodded and bowed in respect to the family before walking away. 

Alone once more, Yusuke finally walked in closer so he could examine the details in full. The more he stared at the infant, the more the image seemed strangely familiar to him. The weird thing was, Yusuke couldn’t figure out just WHY the baby looked so familiar considering this was the first time he had seen the image. The crown however, he did have an idea of. Carefully opening his satchel, Yusuke opened the even smaller satchel he had stowed in it and gently moved aside the opening flaps so that some light shone in and hit the crown. Sure enough, the crown that the baby wore was the same one that was in the bag. Yusuke could finally understand why the entire kingdom had placed a bounty on Akira’s head. If he had stolen a crown that was one of the only connections the kingdom had to its beloved lost prince, it was no wonder everyone was after him. Still, despite that, Yusuke found that he really couldn’t fault Akira, not after hearing his story about wanting to become a thief. 

Closing the bag Yusuke turned back around to face the square and found a child drawing a design in chalk on the ground. Seeing the massive pile of multi-colored chalk on the ground, coupled with the large amount of space available to him, Yusuke had the urge to draw. Taking out the blue cloth that had wrapped his necklace, Yusuke held it up to the light before holding it out in front of him to judge a sense of size and perspective before he grabbed a couple blue, gold, white, and red pieces of chalk and got to work, outlining first the giant flower, then the star center, and then the lobsters arranged in a ying-yang position, the latter by far being the most interesting part of the symbol to draw, from the interlocking armor-like shells of the lobsters to their beady eyes, feelers, and multitude of legs and their fluted tails. 

The heat of the sun was beating down on Yusuke’s back as he drew and after a while, he lost track of time. Eventually though, the sun’s rays were starting to dim just a little bit by the time he stood up and admired his work. At this point, a crowd had gathered around him to watch him work. As he wiped his brow, Yusuke noticed just HOW many people were watching him. At that moment, Akira, with a new pair of disguise glasses now on his face, walked up to him and handed him a cup full of water. 

“I didn’t want to disturb you from your work.” Akira said. “But I figure you must be dehydrated by now.” He said. 

Noticing how dry his throat was and how parched he felt, Yusuke graciously accepted the drink and finished it off, just in time for the band of minstrels from earlier to walk into the square and start playing their music. 

Upon hearing the lively tune, people started dancing, pairing off or getting in groups of three and moving in time to the music. Soon the entire square was alive with movement and music once more. 

Seeing all the movement and people, Yusuke found more inspiration to start drawing, taking out his sketchbook and his pencil once more and sketching out the outlines of the people and the scenery in front of him, letting the simple shapes start to take on more complex forms and movements until suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. 

Yusuke turned around and saw Akira smiling and extending his hand out towards him. 

“Care for a dance?” He asked. There was a hopeful and almost playful glint in his eye as he said that. 

“I already sang for you.” Yusuke said, trying to make sense of what Akira wanted. “You want me to dance too?”

“Only if you want to.” Akira said. 

“But I don’t know how to dance.” Yusuke said, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment. 

“Well, neither do I but I’m just here to have a good time.” Akira pointed out. 

“Well—” Yusuke started, only to feel himself get forcefully shoved from behind and into Akira. 

“Come on!” Morgana whined, now in horse form. “Quit beating around the bush, I know you want to dance.” 

Yusuke didn’t have much time to respond before he realized Akira was leaning into his chest. His face heated up as he pulled away awkwardly. Akira’s face was also pink and had a slightly-stunned expression from being so close to Yusuke before he grinned and slid his hands into Yusuke’s and gently pulled him closer into the dancing crowd, unsure of what to do until the movement of two different couples colliding into them separated them, and suddenly, Yusuke found himself dancing with a small, portly elder woman who smiled warmly up at him, spinning him around while Yusuke looks over and sees someone else was doing the same with Akira before Yusuke felt himself being handed off to a little girl, then an older man. 

Yusuke found himself laughing. Breathless from all the fun and excitement and spinning and side-steps and laughing from all the fun he was having. He found it didn’t even matter that his footwork was off. So long as he was moving in time to the music, he was enjoying himself, and it looked like Akira was having fun too. Speaking of which, the music was swelling to a loud crescendo, reaching its climax as the sky started to turn slightly pink as the sun began to set. Yusuke turned to see Akira close enough he could reach out and grab him. He extended his hand out to Akira, who also reached his hand out, only to be grabbed by someone else and spun around. Finally, as the music ended, Akira reached and grabbed Yusuke, pulling him close with a laugh as Yusuke smiled joyfully and the crowd applauded the minstrels for the song. Being so close to Akira, looking at him smiling at him, Yusuke felt his heart beat faster and his face heat up as suddenly he felt a strange impulse to want to kiss him. 

Before that could happen though, Yusuke and Akira heard someone shout, “To the boats!” 

Taking their Cue, Akira and Yusuke separated. “It’s almost sunset. Let’s go.” Akira said. Yusuke nodded as Akira took him by the hand and led him out through the crowd. 

~~~~~

After navigating through the crowds and buying lanterns from the stalls that were selling them, Akira, Yusuke, and Morgana found themselves at one of the many docks the city had to offer. 

“We’re here!” Akira said happily as he walked over to an unoccupied boat before getting in and starting to untie the rope that kept the boat close to the dock. 

“Where are we going?” Yusuke asked, looking around and out towards the horizon, which was turning a bright orange from the sun sinking into the endless stretch of water, which was also being dyed orange from the sunset. The ocean was so beautiful. No amount of reading about it had prepared Yusuke for the sheer size of it. The gentle waves in the bay kept moving towards the shore, never ending their undulating march to meet land only to be pulled back into the body of water once more and start all over again. A couple seagulls flew overhead, flapping their wings as they continued their flight into the horizon until they were but two dots that were growing ever-smaller. 

“Well, it’s the best day of your life, right?” Akira said matter-of-factly. “I figured we get us some good seats for it.” 

“Th-Thank you.” Yusuke said. 

“So are you coming or not?” Akira asked, extending his hand towards Yusuke. 

“Of course.” Yusuke said, graciously taking Akira’s hand as he was gently helped into the boat. After a little more work, Akira finally undid the rope’s knot and gently pushed away from the dock. 

“Hey! What about me?” Morgana asked, changing back into cat form as they watched the boat float away from the dock. “What do I do???” 

“Oh right! I almost forgot.” Akira said in realization. He reached into the bag at his side and pulled out an object wrapped in newspaper before he tossed it to the dock, the package landing right at Morgana’s feet. 

Morgana bent down to sniff at the object. 

“Is this what I think it is?” Morgana asked, looking back up at Akira. 

“Yep!” Akira exclaimed. “That fancy tuna cost me a lot too, so eat up!” 

The cat’s face instantly lit up as it started tearing open the wrapping paper. 

“Thank you Akira!” Morgana said graciously. “I will!” 

“Enjoy!” Akira shouted over his shoulder before he turned back to Yusuke, grabbed the oars that were right beside him, and started rowing. 

Yusuke took out his sketchbook and started idly sketching everything in sight, from the way the light from the setting sun hit the towering castle to the look of concentration on Akira’s face. That is until a thought crossed Yusuke’s mind that made him want to put down his sketchbook. It had suddenly hit him that he turned eighteen today. He’d been alive for eighteen years, and yet the last 36 hours had been the most exciting he had ever had. Everything he had thought he’d experience in the outside world, he had experienced in the last day and a half. But beyond that, he had experienced EVEN MORE than he had expected. The cascade of smiles from meeting new friends, the feeling of warmth in your chest when someone’s arms encircle you in an embrace, the thrill of adventure when you’re running to chase something…

The experience of people. And adventure. And at the center of it all, Akira. How a raise of his eyebrows or the curve of his mouth into a mischievous smirk or the gentle fondness of his eyes could make Yusuke’s heart feel like doing acrobatics while butterflies started fluttering in his stomach, Yusuke had no idea, but regardless, Akira still had that effect on him nonetheless. 

All of the memories he had made today made Yusuke feel warm and happy inside, but almost immediately a bitter thought chased away the happy ones as Yusuke realized that this could be his last day of freedom. And the more Yusuke thought about it, the more he didn’t want to go back to that tower, back to Madarame, back to a life of boredom, back to a life of captivity. And back to a life without Akira. Yusuke couldn’t fathom it. There were so many new things he had seen, done, and drawn in the last day and a half, and he realized that there was yet still so much more the world had to offer him that he had yet to experience.

After rowing a considerable distance away from the docks and towards the middle point between the city and the woods that were on the other end of the city’s bridge, Akira stopped rowing and put the oars down. 

Noting the silence as well as the pensive expression on Yusuke’s face, Akira gently reached over and grabbed Yusuke’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. 

“What’s on your mind?” He asked. 

Yusuke sighed. 

“To tell you the truth,” He said. “I’m scared.” 

A look of concern crossed Akira’s face. 

“Is everything alright?” He asked. “Do I need to move the boat somewhere else? Should we go closer back to shore? Should I—”

“It’s nothing like that.” Yusuke interrupted, shaking his head. “You’ve been doing wonderfully in making my day amazing today. Thank you.” He said.

Akira sighed in relief. “Okay, so at least I’m not making you feel uncomfortable.” He said. “So, what’s wrong then?”

Yusuke took a deep breath. “For eighteen years, I’ve looked out that window, wondering what the world outside was like. Those lights, the way they’ve called to me ever since I was a child, to think that I’d see them in person had been nothing more than a dream until yesterday.” He admitted. “But now that I’m here, and about to see them, I’m terrified that it’s not going to be everything I dreamed it’d be.” 

Akira shook his head and gave Yusuke a reassuring smile. “It will be.” He said. “I’m sure of it.”

“And if it is, what then? Do I just go back to the tower? Do I find a new dream? Do I stay out here?” Yusuke pondered. 

“Do you want to go back to the tower?” Akira inquired. 

“Not particularly.” Yusuke shook his head. “This past day alone, I realized that there’s so much in this world that I have yet to see and do.” He continued. “I guess once these lights are over, I’m going to wonder what I can do then.”

“You find a new dream.” Akira said matter-of-factly. “That’s what happens.”

“Hmmmm.” Yusuke hummed as he pondered what Akira said, lazily picking up a flower that had fallen out of his hair and placing it into the water, watching the flower create ripples in the relatively-still waters in the bay that surrounded him and Akira. 

Reflected in the water, Yusuke could see a golden light, small, but meandering. 

Yusuke swiftly looked up and saw the source of the reflection: a single light moving upwards from the highest tower of the palace. As soon as Yusuke laid eyes on the light, a vast multitude of similar lights were released from the city below the palace to join it, floating and meandering upwards and outwards from the castle walls and the city streets in a gleaming golden glow. 

Hundreds, no, thousands of lights in a neverending stream filled the air and lit up the sun-less sky, floating upwards to join the moon and the stars above. 

Gasping in awe, Yusuke scrambled over to the stern of the boat, his heart feeling almost too big for his chest from how much he could feel it swell with happiness. Unshed tears of joy threatened to spill out of his eyes as he stared up at the beautiful sight. He could feel the warmth from the lights, both inside and out as some of them started to float down to his and Akira’s level. With the water reflecting the images of the lights above it, Yusuke felt like he was surrounded on all sides by lights.

“It’s so beautiful.” Yusuke breathed. Reaching his hands out, Yusuke’s fingertips touched the bottom of one lantern. Yusuke took in the oblong lantern’s details, it’s soft, warm, delicate flame surrounded by a shell of thin, feather-light paper, translucent-white in appearance with the emblem of the royal family painted on the front and illuminated from behind by the flame. Giving the bottom of the lantern a little push, Yusuke sent the lantern gently floating back up into the sky before he turned to face Akira, who now held in his hands the two lanterns he had bought earlier, now lit and ready to be released. 

Akira was right; the lights were everything Yusuke had dreamed they’d be and more. And watching them, Yusuke felt like he was finally seeing the light. Everything he wanted to do, everything he wanted to be, it was starting to become clearer the longer Yusuke watched the lights. There was so much beauty in the world like it, so much of it to draw, so much of it to experience, so much to learn from. There was no way he could gain that kind of experience trapped in the tower. Looking at the sight before him, it was truly like a fog in his heart had lifted.

Smiling, Yusuke sat down in front of Akira once more. 

“I have something for you too.” Yusuke said, reaching into his satchel and pulling out the smaller one that held the crown and mask before he handed it to Akira. 

“I should have returned it to you earlier but I was scared to.” Yusuke added. “But the thing is, I don’t think I’m scared anymore. Do you know what I mean?” 

Akira smiled before he gently moved placed his hand on top of the bag and gently guided Yusuke’s hand and the bag down to the floor of the boat. 

“I’m starting to.” He said, smiling fondly at Yusuke. He gently took out the lanterns he had been holding earlier and handed one together. 

“Ready?” Akira asked. 

Yusuke nodded, and together, he and Akira released their lanterns, watching them float up and twirl around each other on the air currents until they blended in with the sight of the thousands of lanterns in the sky above. 

Heart happy, Yusuke took out his sketchbook and started drawing the lights, the way they floated around him, the way they illuminated the air… and the way their soft glow made Akira look almost angelic in the light. 

Mesmerized, Yusuke kept drawing, but soon found that despite the fact that he wanted to draw the lights especially after wanting to do so for years, now that he was here, he found that the lights weren’t even the main focus of his drawing. Akira was. It was almost like, now that he was here and had seen the lights in person, Yusuke found he could focus only on Akira and his own radiant beauty. 

“What’s wrong?” Akira asked, noticing Yusuke glance towards him for the fifth time in a row. “You’re missing the light.” 

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Yusuke said, finally getting down the last detail of Akira’s eyes before he closed his sketchbook and looked at Akira. “I am looking at the light right now.”

A stunned look crossed Akira’s face before it softened and Akira’s face turned a bright pink at Yusuke’s realization. 

“You really are something.” Akira said, looking away shyly. “I mean, before yesterday, I was so sure I was content to just be a Phantom Thief for the rest of my life, stealing treasure with Morgana with barely any care or consequence just to feel the rush to emulate my hero. But now that I’ve met you, I just realize I’ve been wrong the whole time. I just want adventure and companionship. And with you, I’ve felt more of that just exploring the kingdom or even just hanging out in town or the café, than I have any time I have ever stolen something.” 

Yusuke felt stunned at Akira’s confession, before he smiled gently, the warmth in his chest growing. “Akira…” He said. 

“Yusuke, if you decide not to go back to the tower, please stay with me.” Akira said. “We can start living and learning honestly together. You, Me, and Morgana, if he wants to.” 

Yusuke smiled, eagerly reaching for Akira’s hands, grabbing them before giving them a squeeze. “Of course I will!” He exclaimd and leaning in close to Akira. “Seeing these lights just further solidified my resolve to never go back to that tower.” 

“Good. I’m so glad.” Akira said happily, a smile spreading across his face as he did so. He immediately realized just how close his face was to Yusuke’s. Yusuke was so close, Akira could feel the warm puffs of air coming from Yusuke’s nose as he breathed, to his pale complexion that was currently tinted a light shade of pink, to the long and pretty eyelashes that framed Yusuke’s eyes, which fluttered closed as he leaned in further, almost like he was expecting a kiss. 

Letting instinct take over, Akira started to close his eyes as he leaned in, that is until he caught sight of a very familiar person over on the bank on the other side of the bay. 

Disappointed, but feeling increasingly concerned, Akira pulled away and quickly grabbed the oars and slung the satchel containing the crown over his shoulder and got to rowing. 

Sensing the movement and lack of warmth, Yusuke opened his eyes. 

“Is everything alright?” He asked in concern. “Was it something I said? Did you change your mind?”

Akira shook his head. “It’s nothing like that.” He said. “I promise.”

“Then what is it?” Yusuke asked. 

“Something REALLY urgent just came up, and I need to take care of it.” Akira said, arriving at the shore and getting out of the boat. “I’ll be back soon, I promise.” 

“Okay.” Yusuke said, nodding in understanding. “I’ll just watch the lights while I wait.” 

Akira nodded, reaching to give Yusuke’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze and quickly headed into the forest. 

Yusuke watched Akira’s figure retreat before he turned his attention back to the lights, which had stopped being released into the sky, and were now just continuing their upward and outward journey from the kingdom. 

As the lights started to fade, Yusuke realized he had been at the shore for quite a while, but remembering Akira’s promise, he stayed in his place and continued to watch. 

As soon as the last light died out and the air started to feel cold, Yusuke started to feel the anxiety creep into his heart, wondering if something bad had happened. He didn’t want to think about the possibility that Akira had just left him. And so he waited, and waited, occasionally saying “He’s coming back” out loud to himself but with each time he said that, the empty echo that came after it started sounding continuously less reassuring and didn’t do much to put him at ease. Still, Yusuke reasoned that this is Akira. He keeps his promises after all. 

“He’s coming back…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER WAS A BEAST TO WRITE GODDAMN BUT TBH I NEVER THOUGHT I'D GET FAR ENOUGH WITH THIS FIC TO THE POINT WHERE I'D WRITE THE LIGHTS SCENE SO THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUPPORT I HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT. We're almost to the end guys, can't wait to see how this all turns out! 
> 
> See you next chapter!


End file.
